Heart of Akasha
by Gashadokuro Amanojaku
Summary: Han Ji-Han had a normal life, until one day he wakes up and suddenly has powers. In another time, he would have made waves in the world. Here the world gets destroyed soon by alien creatures called Heartless. Stranded in another world with all that he had known just gone, his only hint on what to do now, is the one thing that can kill these Heartless: His Keyblade. KH/Gamer/Anime
1. Prologue: Dive

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

This story was supposed to be my last big project, something I've decided on because I realized, that with my actual writing speed and work, I would not be able to do more than that. But now that I am on the start of work, I realize that I would not be able to do even that much. At last not if I wanted to have a life and being able to write my own story. So, after falling into despair and trying to tell someone exactly why I don't want to give it up, showing him all the information I already have gathered together, he then notes "isn't that too much for one person to begin with?" And he was right! There is no way I will be able to write the story on my own, so I'll _have to_ get other people for it. It's, after all, quite the big and ambitious crossover.

So, if anyone likes the concept, thinks it would be a pity if wasn't realized and wants to become a part of it, they can get into contact with me. It is my hope that together we can keep this story alive. For that I am going to publish the chapters I've written so far one after another, hopefully showing off just why this story shouldn't be left to die.

Naturally, getting other people to help does not just mean that I'll tell them what to write. Unless they want that, which I would welcome but really doubt would happen. Rather it is – besides maybe things like item and skill creation – combining my idea with that of others and have some write their ideas to the story with the ground elements the same, with me being mostly the watchful eye that makes sure the story doesn't get ridiculous. At last that's what I planned and think might actually have a chance of working. I've also added a Forum to hopefully help with that.

So with that said, I'll present you the prologue. Afterwards I'll explain some of the aspects of the chapter and what they mean for the story.

Prologue: Dive

They were deep under water. Or at last, it looked that way. Their surroundings were tinted in a dark blue color, the only source of light coming from the far away surface above them. Yet despite how far away the light was, it still managed to touch upon the rock formations beneath and around them. Rock formations, which were not sculptured by human hands but only through the natural flow of water.

Which stood completely in contrast to the platform they were standing on. The perfectly geometric structure was made out of a completely unnatural, semi-transparent material that was arranged in squares, each of the same size of two yards length. And it was floating in the middle of the sea without any visible support. Though the last part was actually true for the rock formations, too, which, despite their huge size, didn't seem to realize that they were supposed to follow gravity and instead floated above and below the platform.

And if that wasn't strange enough, this sea had no water. Or at last the platform they were standing on was filled with air instead, since up and below them there seemed to be layers of some liquid, going by how the light from above was refracted and there were always the little air bubbles that rose up everywhere in the liquid. It was quite surreal, actually.

But there was one more thing of note. Or rather, a bunch of things that were essentially the same yet looked completely different: Keys. Everywhere on the platform were keys, their heads with the teeth buried through the platform without damaging it and their ends raised upwards. Furthermore, they were all so ridiculously over-sized! Even the smallest one was several inches long and the largest one, a thin alloy key, went up to three yards! Seriously, how was one supposed to operate a lock with that one?! Or carry it around with you, since that was one of the more distinctive advantages a key had over something fixed like a lever.

And then there was the fact that not two of them looked the same. Now, granted, even normal keys didn't really look all the same as different locks had to be operated with different keys. But those differences were minuscule in comparison. Besides size and color, these keys had also ridiculously different shapes. Everywhere one could see them adorned with ornaments that would definitively break off with frequent use.

To get a better picture on how ridiculous the keys looked, let us take a look at a small selection of them:

The first, one of the more normal looking ones, was 40 inch long and made out of a dark blue rock which shone with a metallic gloss with thick red teeth at the end that was buried through the platform. And both the teeth and shaft were carved in with unreadable glyphs.

The second one was a 42-inch long key with a grip made out of a dark blue metal and a shaft of crystal in light blue color. It had three teeth that were like crystal spikes coming out of the side, only that instead of light blue, they came in the colors red, yellow and light green one each.

Another resembled a sword with a black blade that has been chipped greatly on both the back of it and on the side with the silver edge. The first few inch of the blade were wrapped with pale silk-like cloth and the guard was bronze with a hinge like that of knight's helmet.

The fourth looked more like a wooden club than a key. Only the teeth resembling frozen flames escaping from its bulky end gave it any appearance close to a key.

Then there was one were the designers seemed to have gone way overboard, trying to get as many different aesthetics together as possible. The handle were two strands that grew apart from the shaft and meet together, the upper one being made out of thick sandy-brown scales with black marks all over them while the lower one resembled solid flames of cobalt blue and black color.  
The shaft itself was made out of three intertwining strands, the first looking similar to a gray shrimp, the second like a tail with red fur and the third like another tail, this time with tan-colored fur. It also had four teeth, the first one reminding one of a white slug, the second one of an orange insect's wing, the third one of an octopus's arm and the last one of a fox's tail.

The sixth was an alloy key, like a spear made out of twelve gold and red hexagons, each with the symbol of one of the Chinese zodiacs. The last one was attached to the side of a red shrine gate taking the role of the handle.

And, even after taking the time to go describe all of those, I only managed to scratch the tip of the iceberg. But then again, maybe I was overreacting. After all, their high number was also one of the aspects that made it unlikely that they had been created without a purpose that would explain their multitude of variations. And even if it didn't, if they hadn't been created with a clear purpose in mind, one still had to applaud the artistic sense as well as the craftsmanship of the one who created them. Oh, and the three people inside this field of keys had all a key of their own. That was probably worth mentioning.

The first of these people was a young man with tanned skin, neck-long silver hair that was styled into messy vertical spikes on top and the back with two bangs framing his face which most prominent feature were its piercing yellow eyes. His upper body was clothed with a skintight high-colored shirt of dark colors that emphasized his muscular body and had two red straps crossing over his chest. His red arm was, besides a black wristband, left free, while his left arm was covered with multiple metallic parts on the outside of his arm up to his shoulder to protect this body parts from injuries. His trousers were of beige color and resembled a Japanese hakama with a dark-colored obi sash and a black belt.

But his appearance wasn't all that interesting compared to the object he held in his right hand: The over-sized key I had talked about earlier. Looking at it, it seemed as if it was clearly designed to resemble something demonic. It was black with silver lines drawn it and had a general ragged, thorny appearance. The shaft was split into two until it joined together again at the tip which had a blue cat-like eye and had two more protrusions. The first was an axe-like blade that was just barely bigger than the eye, while the second was like a combination between a claw, fang or scythe, going up until a third of the separated shafts.

But for some reason, the man was holding the key so that the long protrusion was pointed upwards, completely different to what you would expect from something looking like a demonic axe. And there was one more thing that differentiated this key from the others, something that only the keys held by the other two people had in common: A token, that was hanging from the handle by a chain, in this case another blue cat-eye wrapped in gray metallic strings.

The second person was a teenage boy who wore a bodysuit of mostly black color that gradually turned towards a red color at the hands and feet, the former more so than the latter. It also had lines that simulated skin-less muscles, which took on a red color on his chest. Additionally the boy had a short ragged mantle-like object of dark blue color that was covering his posterior and was held together by a cross of blood red girdles at his front and one that went around his waist. His face was impossible to make out on the account of him wearing a silver helmet with a darkened face-cover that was smooth like plastic and went all around his head.

The key the boy was holding seemed also to have been made with a special design in mind, just like the one of the young man. In this case, it seemed the designer had decided that one key was not enough; he should make two of them and put them together. Maybe it was to offset the familiarity that one of those keys otherwise had. With one metallic shaft that turned blue at the handle, normal-looking teeth and a golden grip, it looked closer to a normal key than any other key around them.

Which was probably why instead of one they had two, crossed over and fused at one side of the grip, with both teeth facing outwards. Left and right from the cross-section where something resembling the skeleton of mechanical wings of a soft color mixture of blue, green and white and starting from the cross-section away from the handle was a two-edged yet hollowed-out blade of white color with a gold gradient. The token was also a symbol with two crossed keys and was not attached to one single chain, but two that started at the handle of each individual key before they merged together into one.

The last person was also the only female out of the three. She was a young woman with short, blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a metallic full-body armor that, besides her head, covered everything in a form-fitting manner, slender at the waist and wide at the hip with breastplates resembling an upside-down crescent moon, leaving no doubt that the owner was indeed female.

Though while her armor was rather elaborate for armor, her key on the other hand was more simple compared to most of the keys around her. Its guard was circular with slightly jagged edges, the upper part being of a black color, the lower of a white and the center was gray. The shaft was of a metallic blue and had two diamonds near the grip, which was a simple gray shaft. The teeth were only like a frame of metallic rods with diamonds at the three places were the actual teeth went outwards with an extremely short metal rod. The chain at the grip was made out of segments, which were like tear-shaped diamonds and connected to a token that also reminded one of a water droplet-like sapphire with silver ornaments.

Nevertheless, no matter how the key looked like, it was at last useful for something. Namely supporting its owner. Stabbing the tip of the key into the ground, the woman put her weight onto it as she tried to use the leverage it brought to rise from her kneeling position. A task, while successful, was not done without any trouble. The fight she had been in until now had not left her without any mark. Be it the physical dirt and sweat the covered her face and armor or the mental exhaustion that she was still recovering from.

Yet she could not just sit down and rest. She had to continue fighting! No matter the cost!

"Pointless", the man spoke in a condescending voice as he saw her efforts, "your friends are already beyond your reach! Ventus has become one with Vanitas to forge the ultimate key, the χ-blade! Terra's heart has been extinguished, smothered by the darkness within him! You are of no consequence anymore."

"My name is Master Aqua", the woman declared as she stood up straight, her left side towards her opponents and her right hand holding the key like a sword, "return my friends' hearts or pay the price!"

"Fool", commented the man, but his words were not heard under the loud laughter of the teenager. A laughter, that was incredible eerie as it sounded like two people laughing at the same time in the same way, yet with different voices.

"**Not bad at all**", exclaimed the teenager, still using two voices at once. "**You really are fun to have around! But you are just wasting your energy! The χ-blade will open the door – the door that leads to Kingdom Hearts! Then from each and every single world Keyblade-bearing warriors will flock together, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts! And just like the legends says, the Keyblade War shall begin!**"

After that speech he pointed his key, which was called χ-blade at last as far as their conversations had seemed to indicate, towards the sea above them. Black and white energy gathered in a sphere above the tip of the key, swirling around each other in a contained chaos. Then the sphere left the χ-blade and shot upwards. As it hit the water, a pulse went through the liquid and pushed it away from the point of impact like Moses parting the red sea. Only that this sea was up in the sky and when it was gone it didn't leave behind solid ground, but a giant bluish-glowing moon in the shape of a heart floating in the sky.

Despite the situation Aqua couldn't help but stare in awe at the majestic sight in front of her eyes. A clear sky with white dots, surrounding the heart emitting a pure light, which was further, reflected on the borders of the sea around it, truly a beautiful, heart-racing sight. She could downright feel its radiance inside her heart and soul, her own Keyblade singing in all but sound as its light shined upon it. Aqua had to admit that she could understand how Kingdom Hearts could gather people like moth to a flame.

But she shook of her trance quickly enough. She couldn't just stand around and no nothing. After all, she still had her friends to save! Still, it seemed that seeing the light of Kingdom Hearts had invigorated her, washing away her fatigue and filling her with new energy. She didn't know if it was indeed an effect of the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts, or if it was just that turning from something so beautiful after reaffirming her goal increased her focus and conviction enough to simulate the effect psychologically. But whatever the case, she knew what she had to do now!

Vanitas, the teenager in a bodysuit with the χ-blade noted her defiance and broke out into a big smile unseen under his helmet, while Xehanort, the man with the demonic Keyblade just stared at her dismissively. But Vanitas rushed towards her and she grabbed her own Keyblade to meet his charge with all the might she could bring forth.

But both combatants stopped dead in their tracks as suddenly their surroundings where tinted with a red color and out of nowhere a mechanical voice spoke up:

[ERROR 401: Unauthorized access to Akasha detected. Please gain authorization from the Moon Cell Automaton and try again.]

"Authorization?" Voiced Xehanort skeptically. "Many worlds are close enough to the root of all hearts to tell about it in their tales. You are but one of them, Automaton of the Moon. You have less claim on Kingdom Hearts than I, who forged its key!"

But the voice didn't seem to agree with his reason as it just continued:

[ERROR 403: Forbidden entry detected. Current action is not permitted by the Moon Cell. Cease your access to Akasha at once or face termination.]

Aqua held her breath. Each world had a heart but not every heart was equal. Some worlds had stronger hearts than others. And with those stronger hearts came greater powers. Some worlds were barely alive like an infant child, only able to tell what happened to them. Stronger ones were able to make themselves known, to talk to the people living on them. Some were aware enough to give out gifts, empowering their Chosen Ones. And then there were those with hearts strong enough to forgo their passive role, those capable of taking an active role in the lives on them, manipulating people and events to their liking or even materialize in an avatar, a physical being on their own body. A world able to actively destroy any intruders it dislikes? That world would have to own a strong heart, indeed.

Yet neither of the two others felt reason to pause at the implication. In fact, Vanitas was starting to laugh at the world's declaration.

"**Oh, give it your best shot!**" He challenged the world with glee. "**I have the χ-blade, the ultimate Keyblade! What do you think you'll be able to accomplish?!**"

[ERROR 403: Forbidden entry has not ceased.] The world noted.

[Terminating hostiles.  
ERROR 613: Hostiles cannot be terminated. Hostiles are outside of the influence of the Moon Cell.]

So the world wasn't able to influence them, after all. It wasn't that surprising actually. Disregarding the χ-blade, even normal Keyblades were given to people to deal with problems outside of a world's influence. In other words, those who wielded them were also exempt from their influences. And that especially included being deleted by one. So Vanitas had been right when he called the bluff of the world. It was not able to terminate them.

[CODE 101: Switching Protocols.], decided the world.

[Last resort: Deploying Counter Guardian.]

"A guardian?" Voiced Xehanort with interest. "A world is able to call forth a guardian for Kingdom Hearts? How intriguing."

"**Hahahaha**", shouted Vanitas in joy. "**Let's see how this 'guardian' stacks up against the χ-blade!**"

Not too far away lines and circles of ever-shifting digits appeared. They moved through the air in a random fashion, yet still contained to a cylinder the size of a door. More and more and more numbers appeared, until they completely filled the space inside the cylinder. Then, with a flash of light they disappeared, leaving behind a person.

The person, the so-called Counter Guardian, was a tall man with tanned skin and short but spiky white hair. The Counter Guardian wore a black body armor and a red coat, which was more like two sleeves of red fabric connected with a single cord on his back, as well as a red skirt that ended above his shins and was left open at the front. With his empty eyes he stared in the direction where Vanitas was, silently challenging the wielder of the χ-blade.

"**Hahahaha**!" The person in question laughed and a tremor went through all the Keyblades around them. They broke free from the platform, flying into the air and combining all into a maelstrom of flying keys. Together they twisted around and in unison shot towards Vanitas from behind. But the boy did not get caught unaware. In fact, it seemed as if he expected them as he jumped into the air right as the whirlwind of keys came up to him and landed on one of them, using it like a surfboard, riding the twister like a wave towards the Counter Guardian.

"**_Out of Order_**", spoke the person in question with an emotionless voice and a light blue crystal Keyblade with three different-colored teeth appeared in his hand. Then he spun it around in front of him, creating the image of a shield. With it he stood against the tidal wave, making any key that hit it fly off to either side, were it landed motionless with its tip in the floor. And with every key that flew away, an electric current ran over the frame of the Counter Guardian and the spinning became a tad faster.

Vanitas narrowed his eyes and jumped off the twister, letting the rest of the keys shoot towards his opponent on their own, still without any noticeable effect.

"**_Great Heavenly Race_**."

Suddenly the Counter Guardian vanished in a blur, only to reappear before Vanitas, impaling the frozen foe with something looking like a spear made out of twelve gold and red hexagons.

"**_World-Spanning Empire_**", he then said and the same time a "**gotcha**" from above accompanied the arrival of a second Vanitas who slashed at his enemy while his other image faded away into nothingness. Only for the Counter Guardian to disappear as well, leaving behind just a roman-styled Keyblade with a red cloth surrounding the tip of a Gladius in the shape of a key's teeth.

Vanitas looked around for a sign of his enemy and found him kneeling at the place where all the other Keyblades had fallen into the ground, his hand around a copy of the roman Keyblade. His other was stretched out towards the boy, having thrown a third copy – or was it the original?

Nevertheless, it seemed real enough for Vanitas to quickly cartwheel out of the way. Which seemed to be the right decision as the Counter Guardian suddenly appeared next to the flying key, his hands already on it.

"**_Void Tears_**."

The key transformed into white-glowing and liquid-looking yet still solid clay. The Counter Guardian moved it upwards in an arc, blocking Vanitas strike after his teleport moved him above his enemy. However, that wasn't the only effect the white key had. At the same moment it drew an arc in the air, it produced a viscous liquid glowing white just like it. The liquid flew forward like paint thrown out from a bucket, towards the place where Vanitas's after-image had been, as well as the person himself when the Counter Guardian blocked his attack.

Vanitas quickly pushed himself away and did a backward somersault for additional distance. Once again a sound decision as when the white liquid hit the platform, it burned a line into the seemingly indestructible matter which was not even scarred when the keys fell into it, not to mention the giant floating rock above them.

Speaking of, Xehanort had finally decided to enter the fight himself and, with one move of his hand, send the floating rock down on top of the Counter Guardian while Vanitas got clear.

"**_Thirteen Guards_**."

The Keyblade transformed into one resembling a wooden cane with flames coming out of the bulky end, distorting the air above and around them like the heat of real flames, only a lot stronger.

The Counter Guardian hit the giant rock with the bulky end and in an instance, evaporated the whole asteroid-look-alike like it was nothing. However, this moment of inattention was instantly used by Vanitas. He shot a fireball, which turned into multiple fireballs and flew towards his enemy from all directions.

"**_Protecting Left Hand_**."

The Keyblade changed again, this time resembling a long sword with chipped edges and the Counter Guardian charged, completely ignoring the flames as they harmlessly vanished upon contact. Vanitas slammed his χ-blade onto the ground, sending forth a razor-sharp wave of darkness, but it as well proved futile against the Counter Guardian. And then he was already upon Vanitas, attacking his enemy with an onslaught of fast vicious blows that kept him completely on the defensive.

Fortunately for Vanitas, he was not fighting on his own. Xehanort had caught up with them and swung his own Keyblade at the Counter Guardian's back.

"**_Ten Elements_**."

But he transformed the key again, changing it into a key completely made out of light. At the same time, his other hand suddenly held a key made out of literal shadows, which he used to block Xehanort's Keyblade. Additionally, then more keys made out of the substances water, clay, cobblestone, wood, air, steel, as well as fire and lightning appeared in a circle around the Counter Guardian. Then those eight others spun in a whirlwind of death, forcing Xehanort and Vanitas to back off let they get skewered by the multitude of flying weapons.

That not enough, Xehanort suddenly found himself as the target of multiple spheres of light in different colors of the rainbow. He swatted them out of the air with his Keyblade and send an angry glare towards the interloper: Aqua, who had finally overcome her stupor over the appearance of the guardian and just decided that, as long as he was fighting against her enemies, she would help him out.

"**_Message to Tomorrow_**."

Meanwhile the person in question changed his key again, this time to a metallic-looking stone of blue color with red teeth. He stabbed it into the ground and once again the platform was carved in, this time with a giant symbol in the shape of a condor. In fact, the symbol was so large that when the lines appeared, Xehanort and Vanitas had to retract quite a lot less they be trapped inside their radius and being subjected to any number of unknown effects.

Yet nothing happened.

"**_One Hundred Tales_**."

That was, until his key changed again, this time resembling a large Japanese brush with split hairs making up the teeth. The Counter Guardian swung the Keyblade, releasing ink that filled all the lines that the symbol was made of. Then suddenly a beast rose up from the place the lines where, taking the ink with it but leaving the carvings like they were. It was, as if the painting had literally come to live in a giant black bird with glowing red lines, the Counter Guardian on its back. The bird let out a loud shriek and flew towards Vanitas, intending to squash him with its giant talons.

"**Don't screw with me!**" Declared Vanitas and, with one swing of his χ-blade, cut the giant bird in half, making it turn into black particles of dust. "**No matter how many ancient Keyblades you take out, they are useless in front of the χ-blade!**"

Vanitas, suddenly surrounded by a golden glow, jumped upwards against the Counter Guardian.

"**_Split Calamity_**."

Again the Keyblade changed, this time looking like it had been assembled from nine different strands of mundane and mythical matters, four as the teeth, three intertwined as the shaft and two as the handle. The Keyblade met the χ-blade head-on and the latter promptly split apart into two singular Keyblades.

"**What the-**", was all Vanitas could let out before the Keyblade hit him, shutting up anything else he wanted to say. Furthermore, the moment it touched him, he also, split in two. Flying to the right was himself, Vanitas. But flying to the left was someone else, a young boy the same age with spiky blond hair, blue eyes and baggy clothes who was currently unconscious.

"Ven!" Shouted Aqua who recognized the boy instantly as the one of her friends and rushed towards him before he hit the ground, completely forgetting her current battle with Xehanort. Fortunately for her, the young man had also been dumbstruck at the development, stopping his attacks as soon as the χ-blade had split.

"How is that possible?" He voiced confused. "Nothing should be able to effect the χ-blade like that… could it be… the union had yet to finish? Did Ventus proof himself even more useless than I originally had assumed?!"

While he was ranting, the sea above them retracted back to its original state, once again hiding Kingdom Hearts from their eyes and anyone seeking it in the future. Meanwhile Aqua had reached Ventus and caught him, before he hit the ground. Vanitas, who had no one who cared enough to give him this courtesy, landed hard on the platform.

"**_Seal by Embrace_**."

Vanitas picked himself up, angrily turning towards the Counter Guardian.

"Oi", he shouted, "what the hell did you do, you bas-"

Once again, he was interrupted. This time by a Khakkhara-like key where the rings of the Buddhist monk staff all pointed downwards and the upward teeth were made out of white foxtails. Not quite comprehending what was happening, Vanitas could only stare down at his chest, where the pointy end had stabbed him, not drawing any blood.

"**_Void Tears_**."

The key changed again, for the first time to a shape that had already been used before, a key of white-glowing clay. Then the Counter Guardian drew a circle and with that one swift motion created enough liquid clay to completely erase Vanitas.

Still cradling the unconscious Ventus in her arms, Aqua could only stare aghast at the space where Vanitas had been before, now no trace left of him. She was only brought out of her stupor, when the Counter Guardian turned around to face Xehanort.

"**_Great Heavenly Race_**."

Spear in hand, the Counter Guardian rushed forward, switching it back to **_Void Tears_** upon reaching him. That was when Aqua had a frightening thought. Never once had the Counter Guardian shown any emotion or made any attempt to communicate with them. Vanitas, he had literally murdered in cold blood without so much as batting an eyelid. Since he was still fighting, even though the access to Kingdom Heart had "ceased", it stood to reason, he would do the same to Xehanort. And unlike Vanitas, Xehanort had no χ-blade that the Counter Guardian would have to deal with. So, what would stop him from killing Xehanort _without_ saving her friend first? Nothing. Would he even recognize Terra as someone different from Xehanort or would he think, Terra also had tried to get to Kingdom Hearts?!

Right at this moment the Counter Guardian used **_Ten Elements_** to disarm Xehanort, letting his Keyblade fly through the air and land with the tip through the platform, joining all the other Keyblades. Then he switched to **_Seal by Embrace_**, pointing the tip at the downed Keyblade Master.

"Stop!" Cried Aqua, but it was too late. The Counter Guardian impaled Xehanort, sealing his fate.

* * *

He found himself in a dark void. There was no landmark, nothing to tell him where was up or down. Just a never-ending darkness. Yet, for some reason he felt like he was slowly falling. Maybe it was _because_ there was nothing to tell him where up or down, his brain automatically assumed he was moving downwards.

Until his feet suddenly hit something, stopping his decent. He stumbled, but managed to catch himself before he fell face-down onto… the void? It felt like there was some sort of platform in this darkness where he was standing on, yet his eyes did not manage to make out anything.

Hesitantly he took a step forwards, prodding whether or not the platform in the void extended past his current position, only to fall back in surprise, landing unceremoniously on his bottom as the darkness broke away under him. Literally. Piece by piece the darkness came off, flew upwards and dissolved in the surrounding darkness, revealing a real circular platform under him.

The platform was colored in a whitish gray, beige and light brown, like an old world map, stretching and compressing the continents so that they all fit into the circular shape and still make it clear that it was the earth that was shown. He himself was currently sitting on Australia. But then he stood up, walked over the shortened Pacific Ocean until he stood in the center, shortly before the coast of Japan. He took a minute to take a look on him home country South Korea before turning around and taking in the whole map one continent after another.

[So much to do, so little time…], suddenly a voice cut through the silence, startling him. But though I said "voice", it was more like a feeling of words that suddenly filled his being, his heart and soul. [Don't be afraid. But it is time you decide…]

Suddenly six white pedestals rose from the ground around him. One on Australia, one on South Africa, one on the northwest of Asia, one in between Asia and North America at the Bering Strait, one on North America and the last on its southern counterpart. Above each and every one of them floated an object: A sword, a shield, a bow, a staff, a book and a pack of cards.

He stood in place, only moving around to take a better look at the objects floating around.

[Now choose], the voice told him, like a mother that was impatiently waiting for its child, managing to pull him out his stupor. The voice wanted him to choose? Well, there was only one real option for him!

Without hesitation he moved back to Australia and grabbed the sword from the pedestal.

"The sword!" He declared enthusiastically. "The sword for men!"

It was a beautiful piece of equipment even without any elaborate decoration. Resembling a two-edged Roman Gladius with a silver-colored polished blade and a golden guard and handle, it fit perfectly into his hands as he swung it around in practice.

[The power of the warrior.  
Invincible courage.  
A sword of terrible destruction.  
Is this the power you seek?]

The voice spoke up again, as if to check his resolve. Which did make him wonder whether or not he should actually change it. In games, swords where a classic for a reason, but they were also the default weapons of Tanks… no way! This is the character creation of a video game, isn't it?! It's where I'll decide on what class I am going to play isn't it?! I am dreaming right now, aren't I? Did I play so many games my dreams are now turning into games, too?! Is my sub-consciousness telling me to stop?

But as his mind was stuck in the dilemma, the voice either decided assumed he was sure or did just not want to wait any longer for him and declared:

[Your path is set.]

With that the pedestal the sword had been on vanished into the ground, leaving the weapon into the hands of the flabbergasted human.

"Wait!" He called out. "I wasn't finished!"

But the voice did not care.

[Your path is set.], it repeated, making him angry.

"I was just-"

[Your path is set.]

"You can't just-"

[Your path is set.]

"Will you-"

[Your path is set.]

"Stop inter-"

[Your path is set.]

"ALRIGHT, FINE!" He shouted, giving up on making the voice let him think about his Class choice. But damn it, if this was a video game, he would have liked to be able to think more about at what kind of character he wanted to play. No choice. Then he'd just have to play a warrior. They were a standard video game class for a reason. He should be able to deal with it.

Or at last, that was what he thought until the voice decided to throw him yet another curve-ball:

[Now], the voice continued, [what will you give up in exchange?]

He had to give something up, too?! And that without ever deciding whether he really wanted the sword or not? Damn it. This game was really not user-friendly… no choice. But then what was he supposed to give up? Since there was no user manual he had no idea what would be a bad choice. Should he give up the bow? He already had a sword so for this game he was pretty set for close-quarter combat but then what about the book or the cards? Wouldn't they be even less useful than the bow?

Damn it, this would definitely easier if he knew what the objects stood for. He had first assumed the Class but what game would have to give up a Class? Wouldn't you normally give up stats? …wait. Now that he think about it, wouldn't that make a lot more sense? There were six objects and the RPGs he played usually had five to six stats: Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom and sometimes Luck or Charisma. The objects were just symbolic for the stats! The sword was for Strength, the shield for Endurance, the bow for Dexterity, the staff for the magic stat Intelligence, the book for Wisdom and the pack of cards for Luck.

Now then, with that in mind, he could think better about which one to choose! Only that the choice had already been taken for him: Strength. Which made it not a good idea to give up any of the physical stats, Endurance and Dexterity since he would need them if he went into melee combat. Usually the Dump-Stat to choose to discard would be Luck, but since he had no idea what this game was about, Luck could actually be the most vital stat of them all. And since he had no intention of finding out that he accidentally reduced his Sanity value by dropping Wisdom, this left Intelligence, the stat of magic. Damn it. He really wanted to become a magician. Hopefully this game would allow for INT-independent magic.

He walked over to the staff and picked it up with his left hand.

[The power of the mystic], intoned the voice.

[Inner strength.  
A staff of wonder and ruin.  
Is this the power you want to give up?]

'Yes, you cutthroat!'

And with that the staff dispersed into molds of light, flying up into the darkness.

He looked after them, until an earthquake brought his attention back to the plate he stood on. All around him the pedestals were sinking back into the ground, taking the objects with him. The exception being the sword still in his hand and the staff that had already vanished.

[You gained the power to fight], noted the voice. [Use this power to protect yourself and others.]

Alright. So pretty standard video game opening. Maybe he should have discarded Luck after all.

[There will be times you have to fight.]

Oh, really? What else was he supposed to use the sword for? Cutting Tofu?!

Suddenly three shadows appeared on the plate, which soon lifted themselves up from the ground to form three-dimensional figures. They were little black humanoids that reached up to his knees. They had a plump body, thin arms with three claws, large pointy feet and a round head with big yellow dots as eyes as well as two bug-like feelers, also in the color black.

[Keep your light burning strong.]

Alright. Time to kill some mobs!

He swung his sword, hitting the first little monster, making it flinch back. However, at the same time, another shadow popped up behind the first one.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed as he noticed that these kinds of enemies were the ones that constantly spawned until they were all defeated at the same time.

Quickly he stabbed after the monster. Only that to his horror, the monster flattened itself onto the ground just like a shadow and hushed far too fast to the left, escaping out of his reach. Meanwhile another monster came up from behind and slashed at him, sending him tumbling forwards. The pain on his back was joined by pain on his head as he planted his face right onto the ground. Then the monster from before came up from the ground again and joined its brethren in pummeling him.

Clenching his teeth, he pushed himself up through the continuous pain and slashed at one of his assailants. This time the strike connected but only made it stagger a bit. But for now that was everything he wanted. Spinning around his axis he managed to hit all of the rest, too, pushing them all back and giving him the space he needed. It also resulted in one of them suddenly dispersing into nothingness. Why was that? Is the damage variable? Their life points? Oh, wait! He already had hit one of them once, didn't he? So they needed two hits! Alright!

But as he prepared himself to go against them again, they suddenly became transparent, flat and vanished. He looked at the place they had been in surprise until it hit him:

"Of course", he realized, "I should have known no game would put an infinite respawn at the beginning! But, damn, that scared me."

[Use this power to protect yourself and others], the voice suddenly called out, making him roll his eyes.

"What do you want? You've said that already!" He asked.

That was when another of those monsters appeared same places away from him and he quickly held the sword in front of him. In haste he looked around, but no more monsters appeared. And even the one monster just stood there, not doing anything. Then, the voice repeated:

[Use this power to protect yourself.]

His left eye developed a twitch as he noticed how the voice had shortened the text additionally to the significant smaller number of enemies.

"Argh! Don't screw with me!" He shouted as he ran towards the monster and downright slammed the sword onto it. As a result the monster dispersed, this time just from that one hit.

[Use this power to protect yourself and others], intoned the voice and three monsters appeared this time.

"Alright. Let's do it serious this time!"

He quickly ran towards the first and slashed at it, only for it to flatten itself onto the ground. But this time he did not just dawdle around and instead passed the monster and turned around so that he did not again get someone on his back.

He noticed how the number had once again grown to four but in exchange the monster that he had first targeted had come back up from the ground. Not wanting to waste that opportunity, he cut it. First from the right and then in the backswing from the left. This two-hit combo was enough to deal with the monster and it dispersed into nothingness.

Seeing that, the other monsters once again vanished.

"Huh? I wasn't that bad this time!" He called out.

[There will be times you have to fight. And times you don't.]

"Alright, then now what?"

[Now, step forward.]

Suddenly a door appeared at the end of the plate. It was an old door of two door wings of a clear blue color, twice his size and became wider the higher it went until it reunited in a curved top. It had four square indentations, two one each wing up and above the elaborate handle.

He walked over to it. But before he reached it, he stopped because the voice piped up again:

[The day the door opens is both far off and very near.]

And with that the door actually did open. Behind it appeared rectangular plates colored like the class windows one could find in churches, like mosaics that didn't show any motifs. Plates which only showed themselves when he looked through the door. Looking past it on the right or left and he couldn't find any trace of them. An interesting feature but somehow unnecessary considering he could only reach them when going through the door in the first place.

Which did not stop him from doing just that. But as he walked through the door and stepped onto the first rectangular plate he also noticed something else. Namely that the circular plate he had been on had not been a plate at all, but something akin to a tower with beige-colored cathedral windows, which went further down into the void than he could see.

But the plates guided him away from it, further and further into the darkness. With every step another plate showed up so that there were always four plates in front of him. Dutifully he walked on them for who knows how long until the suddenly stopped in surprise. Downwards, past the mosaic plates he could see the tower again. But not its top, no, its _side_. That was when he noticed that the mosaic plates did not appear out of nowhere, no, they were already there. They were just curving around so that he could only see a limited number of them at the same time. And that without him noticing any change in gravity.

Keeping a watch on the tower below he continued to walk. Soon enough, he also realized that the tower did not actually go on forever, but had a second end, which looked just like the other one, making it a symmetrical cylinder. There was only one difference that he could make out as he walked on the mosaics towards the second end: Above it was a glowing spot as a source of light that became more and more blinding the closer he came to it.

Once he actually left the mosaic plates and stood directly under the light on top of the tower, he had to shield his eyes from it. But it soon dimmed to allow him to take a look around. But there was nothing new to see. It was literally just the same image as on the other hand. The only thing new was the large shadow that the light above him cast. But as he noticed it, the voice decided to comment once again:

[The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes.]

He rolled his eyes.

"Thank you for these wise- whoa!"

His words got stuck in his throat as his shadow decided to lift itself from the ground and grew larger as well as bulkier, until it only in passing resembled him.

[But don't be afraid.]

"Alright", he responded, grabbing the sword in his hands tightly to confront the new foe. "I am guessing this would be the first boss."

The black enemy in front of him was incredibly large, easily five times his size. His upper body was bulky and muscular, complete different to the relatively short legs and thin feet resembling the shoes of a jester. The arms were also muscular, ending in two large hands with five claws. On its back it had two thin wings, looking more like extra hands than actual wings and its head with piercing yellow eyes was shrouded in black tentacles, which took the function of mask, scarf and hair all at once. But it's most striking feature head to be the large heart-shaped hole that he could see through.

Though apparently he studying the enemy looked like he was still hesitating, as the voice called out again:

[Don't forget. You have the power to protect yourself.]

[And others.]

Once more his left eye developed a twitch as the last part was only added in like as an afterthought.

"Oh, screw you, too!" He shouted at the voice, ran towards the giant monster and slashed at it with his sword.

Only for nothing to happen. But that was alright. Video game bosses often could deal with a lot amount of damage without showing any reactions. Thus he kept attacking, but at the same time always throwing a glance back up to see what the monster was planning to do.

He saw it bending down and he quickly ran around to get behind it. But it completely ignored him even as he continued to hack at its legs. Instead it held out its hand and gathered dark energy around it. Then it slammed the closed hand onto the ground knuckles first, making the energy fall onto the ground below where it created a pool of darkness.

But even though he was way out of its range, the boss did not let up and kept his fist on the ground. Why became clear soon enough as from the darkness rose a bunch of shadows, the same monsters that he had fought against earlier.

"Great", he cursed, "a Minion Master!"

What should he do? Should he deal with the little ones first to prevent them from swarming him? Should he destroy the big one first to prevent him from summoning more?

In the end the decision came down to one thing: There was no health bar. There was just no way to tell whether or not he made any progress with the boss. But the small monsters were killed in two hits. So he knew at last that his attacks were doing something.

But as he went past the leg of the boss monster, he suddenly stopped, as he noticed something he hadn't thought of before: the black puddle surrounding the hand of the boss monster. And as any idiot could tell you, stepping into an area covered in an unidentifiable black tar-like substance was _not_ a good idea. Who knew what kind of debuffs it would give him?! But on the other hand, how was he supposed to get to the minions, of which there were already four, if he couldn't step into the area they were in?!

Luckily the problem solved itself on its own as the enemies in question just decided to come towards him instead. One of them even made the mistake of jumping at him, which meant that it could not flatten itself onto the ground like his brethren, allowing him to easily swat it out of the air. That did not kill it, but that did not matter much since except for the one time the voice screwed with him, those monsters did need two hits to be destroyed. And the strike had thrown it far enough away that it would hopefully only join the attack again, once he dealt with the others.

Left, right, and the second attacker dispersed after getting hit two times. The third flattened itself and went past him but the fourth also went directly towards him and soon paid the price. Then he quickly turned around to attack the one who had passed by him and then turned around again to finish off the first one.

Only that that one was now accompanied by two more mobs that had appeared from the dark pool while yet another one was already rising up from it. Was it going to summon them continuously while its hand was in the ground?

Damn, there's just too much he didn't know! But first things first: Destroying the minions in front of him!

One; and the first of the three was cut down. One, two; and the second followed him. Spin, one, two; and the one who had slipped behind him was history, too. Spin again, one, two; and that was end of the first of the next reinforcements. But by now it was pretty much a given that the boss would continue to spawn his minions until _he_ did something to make it stop. The only problem was that all he could think of was attacking the boss himself. And since he had no ranged attacks that meant stepping into the pool of tar. Something that he has explicitly tried to avoid. But if he wanted to continue forward, he'd have to take a leap of faith.

So, before the next black shadow jumped him, he took a step forward. To his surprise, not only could he not notice any negative effects on him, he could step onto the black tar as if it was a solid surface. Now literally grinning, he ran straight ahead, taking out the minion in his way, until he reach the submerged hand and attacked it like there was no tomorrow. He only slowed down when it occurred to him, to better still keep an eye on the black tar around him to watch out for more minions who might get summoned. And soon enough, there were two more of them.

But at the same time that he turned around to deal with them, the black giant finally lifted its hand out of the ground, making the black tar vanish right afterwards. The minions already on the field did not vanish with it, but as last there wouldn't be any new ones for a while, allowing him to concentrate on the boss. Who still showed no sign of noticing his efforts. He started to wonder, whether attacking the hand had actually influenced the boss or if the black-tar-attack, as he decided to call it for now, was just that long.

Glancing upwards to not get blindsided, he witnessed the boss straightening himself; and then slowly falling on its knees. In haste he stumbled out of the way as the boss arched backwards, the hands hovering slightly above the ground next to his sides balled into fists. Then, in front of the hole in its torso, dark energy gathered into a sphere and, with a motion that looked suspiciously like a recoil-imitation done with the whole body, a copy of the sphere shot forward into the air. Then, repeating the same motion, a second sphere followed. When a third sphere was created, he couldn't help but voice his confusion:

"What's that supposed to – oh, they are homing, of course!"

Just as he had said, after flying a bit the spheres turned around, heading directly towards him. Quickly he got out of the way and not a moment too soon, as the first of the spheres impacted on the ground behind him, creating an explosion of dark energy. But it was too soon for him to rejoice, as the other spheres turned around in mid-air, homing in on his new location, forcing him to continue running away. All of that with no end in sight, as the boss continued to pump out more and more dark spheres.

"Damn it!" He cursed as he continued to run in circles, explosions hot on his heels. Did he had to do something here, too? Hopefully this wasn't a Tennis Boss. There were way too many tennis balls for that!

As he contemplated on what to do, his gaze fell on the black fist that hang up in the air. The boss did change his pattern the last time he hit that, didn't it? He decided to try that first. Playing tennis with the spheres would be plan B.

He ran towards the hand and slashed at it as he was passing it.

"Tag, you're it!" He declared as he hit the fist with his sword and turned around to look at how that effected the boss. Only for his eyes to widen as he now came face to face with an energy sphere.

As fast as he could he jumped backwards, letting the sphere impact the ground at his feet in front of him. Unfortunately it was close enough to still send him flying on his back, making pain shot through it. But that not enough, there were still three more spheres coming right at him.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He cursed, not even trying to get up at this point and literally rolled out of the way, one close call after another. Fortunately "tagging" the hand had been enough for it to stop its attack and rise up again, stopping it from shooting more spheres into the air. Otherwise getting away from all the projectiles would have been a lot more difficult.

Realizing there were no more explosions, he stopped rolling and quickly picked himself up. He had to be ready for whatever the boss would throw at him next… which was apparently the same attack as the first. Let's see. Slightly bend legs? Check. Dark energy in the hand? Check. Reaching out? Check. Slamming the ha- uwak! Too close!

He quickly jumped out of the way as the hand came down near the place he had stood in before. And, once again, a pool of darkness followed that would soon spawn its minions.

"Not this time!" He declared as he ran up to it and attacked the limb, not hesitating to step on top of the black tar this time. And soon enough, the black giant lifted its hand up again without having spawned a single minion.

"Alright!" He shouted, his empty fist pumped into the air as the boss went into the motions for his second attack. If that was all the boss could do this would be a lot easier than first expected!

He quickly went to the hand, as the boss was kneeling down and once again "tagged" the hand. And like a charm the boss stopped doing what he was doing and rose again. All without shooting a single sphere into the air. Then the boss held out its hand; and promptly lunged with it after him, taking him completely by surprise with this sudden change of strategy. Luckily the boss's motions were really slow, otherwise this would have really hurt. So he could still evade the hand by stumbling back, even if it wasn't the most elegant retreat.

The hand went down on the place he had been before and he quickly closed in on it to attack it. Going with the earlier pattern that should be the right course of actions, after all.

Only that as he went to strike the boss, he suddenly found himself without a weapon at all. Dumbstruck he stared at his now empty hand, before quickly looking around, to see where he dropped it. But he couldn't find it. A fact, he became even more conscious about as his eyes met the ones of the boss. He literally froze for a couple of second, staring unmoving at the boss who was also just staring at him, only menacing thanks to its glowing yellow eyes surrounded by black.

Hesitantly he reached out with his own, now empty, hand and touched the hand of the boss.

"Tag?" He exclaimed unsure.

Now the boss itself also started moving, retracting its hand and straightening itself. For some reason he felt as if the boss was suddenly bigger than before.

"No tag-backs!" He shouted as he turned tail and ran away from the enemy. But not too far. Which was not because he had suddenly found new bravery. No, it was because he had found himself on the edge of the platform he was standing on, a single black abyss stretching out before him, promising to devour him if he made a single false step.

He turned around to face the black giant who was coming over to him without hurry. Like it knew that he would not be able to escape.

"Alright, alright, don't panic", he told himself. "This things pretty slow, I should be able to run circles around it…"

As if it had heard him, black lines began to appear on the surface, cutting through the continental pictures like cracks.

"Oh, come on!" He exclaimed as the platform cracked along the lines, sending him tumbling into a dark abyss while the black giant's yellow eyes continued to stare down at him hauntingly. He wanted to let out a startled yelp, only to find out he couldn't. In fact, he couldn't let out any sound anymore, as he suddenly became unable to breath at all. His hands went up to his throat, trying to pry away whatever was blocking his air, but there wasn't anything.

[Don't be afraid!], the voice from before, which had been silent throughout the whole fight, suddenly started to call out to him again. [You hold the mightiest weapon of all.]

But he didn't care about any of that at that moment. Even as he heard the words, since they didn't help with against suffocation he completely ignored them.

[So don't forget.]

His consciousness was fading, only hearing the voices last words like a final goodbye:

[You are the one who will open the door.]

* * *

With a startled cry he woke up from the nightmare to the sound of his alarm clock.

The first thing he did was sigh in relief about it only having been a dream and him not really dying. The second thing was shutting off the alarm clock.

"What a crazy dream", he mumbled as he stood up from his bed. Maybe his mother was right and he should cut down on playing video games, if his dreams are already creating their own games… na, there is nothing like too much video games. Maybe if he dreamed enough of that game he could actually sell the idea and get rich with it! Now wouldn't that be great?!

But he was dragged out of his musings when his eyes fell on the person-sized mirror standing in his room. His reflection showed a 17-year old guy with messy, dark brown hair that had the tendency to fall to the right side. His mouth was rather large and the nose rather pointy. Below his angular eyebrows lay brown eyes. He was currently wearing white and blue-striped pajamas. So, basically it was him, depicted in the mirror without any difference to his real self, just like a mirror was supposed to do. However, there was one thing that did not quite fit with how a mirror functions. Not with his mirror image, but above it. Namely, one inch above the head of the mirror image was blue lettering, which moved together with the head, constantly staying at the same relative position no matter what he did. The content?

[-The Gamer-  
LV 3 Han, Ji-Han]

Confronted with that development, Han Ji-Han only had one thing to say:

"What the heck?!"

* * *

A/N:

And that's the prologue. When it said in the summary it was a "Gamer"-Story, it did not just mean that the main character gets a Gamer-like power, in this case it also means that the MC is no one else than The Gamer Ji-Han himself. But that wasn't the only thing mentioned. It actually said "KH X Gamer X Anime".

Now what does this mean exactly? It means that everything from Disney that is not Kingdom Hearts-specific is replaced with Anime-franchises, be they worlds or characters. So, Micky, Donald, Goody or the rest of them wouldn't be showing up. Though when I say "Anime" that doesn't specify only those that are literally Anime. This website itself puts Anime and Manga in one category and for Light Novels, Visual Novels and Webnovels, it is really only a matter of reception and resources whether or not they are turned into an Anime or Manga.

And it doesn't matter, whether the Anime/Manga/… (you get the idea) is actually Japanese or the Korean or Chinese counterpart. Even if this Website puts them under Misc. that is only because they were not famous enough. Other sites that list translated versions often don't care what the original language was and show Japanese, Korean and Chinese ones side by side. Personally, in the past I hadn't even realized that some weren't originally Japanese so I think it pretentious to exclude them just because of that.

And with the main character being Han Ji-Han, we would not only see all the worlds and characters through the eyes of a Gamer, but KH itself, too. Thus there would be some changes to expect, be it because of this, or the aforementioned A/M/L/V/W.

One of the most present changes is already right in the title: Heart of Akasha. Akasha refers to the mythical Akashic Records, a place or object where everything, be they events, actions, thoughts or even emotions of past, present or future, are recorded. Whoever can access them can find out anything and whoever can rewrite them, can change reality. It wouldn't be wrong to say that it is a source of ultimate knowledge and power. It is referred in a handful of AMLVW by name alone and quite possible the greatest candidate for something similar to the center of all worlds. Thus I have made Kingdom Hearts, the origin of all worlds, a part of it, the Heart of Akasha.

But that is just the first element I've found in multiple AMLVW that resonates with KH. The second is the travel between worlds. There are just so many AMLVW that deal with the concept of multiple worlds and the travel between them, completely different to Disney. Thus, whenever an AMLVW-franchise with multiple worlds in included, one has to decide whether or not those are all different worlds, or just different layers of the same world. And no Disney means the spaceship that comes with them is also a no-go. Look forward to Traverse Town for more on that.

Thirdly, there are the hearts of the worlds. Not just the collective heart of all the worlds, but also each and every single world having its own heart. In other words, the worlds are alive. In KH this does not have much repercussions besides enabling a world to lose its heart. But in AMLVW there are franchises where the worlds not only are alive, but are also _active_. They give out powers or visions to people, can sometimes even influence events and then there are the franchises where the world is govern by one single entity and you have to wonder, whether or not that entity is just an administrator or possibly the manifestation of the world itself. In fact, Gaia, the world of "The Gamer" itself gives out special powers to people, supports the existence of pocket dimensions to keep the Masquerade and actively kills off people who break it. Not many franchises have a world with such a high level of activity, but it's still prevalent enough to be kept in mind for such a crossover.

And the nasuverse has all three of these. The inhabitants do not just reference the Akashic Records, there are some who got there and then some others who are still actively searching for other ways to copy that feat, it has the concept of multiple worlds as well as the concept of operation between them and the world is one of the most influential worlds in all AMLVW. There is hardly any franchise better to show off how different using Anime worlds would be.

First, no Disney means no Micky, which means a different outcome of the fight against Xehanort. On the other hand, his need to create the χ-Blade at the Keyblade Graveyard turns out to be quite hazardous, if the Keyblade Graveyard is located in a world that dislikes outsiders and people trying to get to even part of the Akashic Records. Thus his non-canon defeat.

Speaking of, the Counter Guardian who appeared this chapter is none of the canon known ones, but a Keyblade-wielding alternative counterpart of one. His Keyblade has the special ability to transform into any Keyblade he has seen and use their abilities like his own. This includes the Keyblades in the Keyblade-graveyard. These Keyblades themselves all represent an event that had happened in the past of their respective stories, meaning events that had appeared in lore or flashbacks before the main storyline. For those who are interested, what follows is a list of all Keyblades used by the Counter Guardian and what franchise/story they are from:

Great Heavenly Race: Etotama  
Message to Tomorrow: One Piece  
One Hundred Tales: Nurarihyon no Mago  
Out of Order: Elsword  
Protecting Left Hand: Zero no Tsukaima  
Seal by Embrace: Tayutama – Kiss on my Deity  
Split Calamity: Naruto  
Ten Elements: Digimon Frontiers  
Thirteen Guards: Bleach  
Void Tears: Fox Spirit Matchmaker  
World-Spanning Empire: Hetalia – Axis Powers

Alright, that's everything important to say for now. I'll publish the first chapter soon. Hopefully I've woken your interest enough to check it out. Though in my opinion it's the chapter after that where things start to get interesting.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	2. Chapter 1: Press Start to Die

**Heart of Akasha**

Chapter 1: Press Start to Die

It was still there. Ji-Han had thought that maybe he had been half-asleep and thus was seeing things, but refreshing his face in the bathroom had done nothing to make the strange writings go away.

[-The Gamer-  
LV 3 Han, Ji-Han]

Those words were still floating above his head. Usually in such a situation one is generally expected to assume they were dreaming or hallucinating. And granted, he had still not thrown those options off the table. However, it felt way too realistic to be a dream. He even did the old trick of pinching himself and felt pain, so it being a dream was really unlikely. And as for hallucination… okay, maybe this was a hallucination. Still, a hallucination that showed one's name and some random video game mechanics when one looked into the mirror? That was crazily specific. Add to that his weird dream talking about how he had some special power and just he couldn't help but wonder about what if this wasn't a hallucination? What if this was real? Though just the words alone would be pretty crappy for some great power, so maybe if he connected them with the dream? Like, for example, could he summon the sword from the dreams?

Not having anything to lose, Ji-Han held out his hand and imagined the sword appearing in his hand. But nothing happened. Maybe he had to do shout some catchphrase? But there were literally thousands of possible phrases, how was he summonsed to know, which one to use?!

"Sword… appear?" He tried out, yet again nothing happened.

"Dream Sword, appear? Dream Sword, come to me?"

Still nothing. So, he couldn't just will it to appear. He needed the catchphrase, the password so to speak. Huh, maybe he should try out things he might use as a password.

"Jee7-amho7-han7."

"Password."

"Swordfish."

"Open says me."

"By the power of Grayskull!"

Okay, that wasn't working. He was just going to assume that if he wasn't hallucinating, there would be some hints later. For now he would just ignore it. Not too difficult since he only ever saw the words when looking into a mirror.

"Ji-Han, are you awake yet?!" A female voice sounded from below. His mother, Han Jung-Sook, who was getting, not exactly worried, but conscious of the fact that he wasn't down yet and might get too late to school.

"I'm coming!" he shouted and quickly got ready.

The table had already been set when he finally made his way downstairs and promptly stopped in the entrance to the kitchen. Not because of the breakfast, no, that was just standard rice, grilled tofu, cold cucumber soup, radish strip kimchi and seasoned kelp. What made him freeze were the words above his mother's head:

[-ˀ?ˀ-  
Lv? Han Jung-Sook]

Okay, now he really hoped he wasn't hallucinating, because if those words appeared above every single person they would become a lot more difficult to ignore.

"Don't just stand there", his mother chastised him, pulling him out of his stupor.

Right. He'd deal with all of this later. For now he's just focus on not getting too late for school.

* * *

As it turned out, figuring out whether or not he was hallucinating would actually pretty easy. He'd just had to ask a random person on the street "excuse me, but is your name Hyang So-Wal?" Since the whatever-it-was had decided to literally place the name of every person above them in blue letters, even those that he didn't know, a hallucination could be easily exposed.

He just didn't do it because of two reasons. First, confirming the name of random people on the street was weird, no matter whether he was right or wrong. Second, there was the other information the whatever-it-was gave him. Every person showed up with their level and sometimes something like a title. Everyone, except for his mother. His mother, the person he should know the most about, only had question marks at the place for level and title. And then there was his childhood friend Shin Sun-Il.

Sun-Il was a guy his age with green spiky hair, which fell over his right eye in multiple bangs. He usually gave a relaxed impression with his closed eyes and laid-back smile. His body was lean and athletic, reminding Ji-Han of the Korean Martial Arts his friend did. Which was also something that his Level of 25 told about. Generally the people in his class had levels from 2 to 6 with Sun-Il being the only exception and even from the adults he had seen so far, the highest level had been their English and homeroom teacher Do Gi-Hyun with 15.

Yet while the level could be explained, there was something else that couldn't: [-Chunbumoon's Heir-]. Sun-Il had never mentioned anything about something like "Chunbumoon" Adding his mother's question marks and he felt like there was some secret conspiracy going around that he had no idea of. Which was why he didn't just come out and asked them about it. Not that he didn't trust them, but what if their secret organizations were the likes of "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you"? Even if they wanted to help him, their higher-ups might not. And for now he didn't want to put them on the spot like that. If things got worse, he'd have to take the leap of faith and eventually meet a doctor if it turned out he actually was hallucinating. But for now he'd just wait and see where it went.

The ring of the bell signaled the end of the lesson and Ji-Han let out a sigh. Finally. Concentrating on the lesson was quite difficult when your head was full with thoughts on hallucinations and secret organizations. And that was only the first lesson of the day. He still had to go through the rest. Not to mention that not even history was finished for the day as his teacher called out into the room:

"And for next week you are going to do page 57, number 1 and 2."

Ji-Han let out a groan in response to the prospect of homework, only to choke on his own spit when suddenly a ringing tone resounded and in the air in front him appeared a transparent rectangular panel of blue color. In each of the upper corners was a circle in a darker blue filled with a question mark in the case of the left one and an "X" in the case of the right one. There was also a greenish triangle in the lower right-hand corner. And in the center were the words

{A quest has been created.}

That not enough, above his teacher were now not only his name and level, but also a yellow question mark.

Dumbfounded Ji-Han switched between looking at the screen and his teacher. The heck?! The whatever-it-was came with a Quest-system?!

Nervously he looked around to see if no one was paying attention to him and his eyes met the ones of his friend Sun-Il who came over from his seat to do small talk. Which Ji-Han indulged in, too, doing his best to ignore the panel. And, to his surprise, it actually vanished shortly after appearing. So at last it wouldn't clutter his field of vision forever. That was a relief.

"Is there something wrong?" Sun-Il inquired, noticing him spacing out.

"No, nothing", Ji-Han quickly replied. He really should stop letting his mind wander. If that happened in class and the teacher noticed, he'd be in for a world of pain. With some teachers more literally than with others. So he pulled himself together and concentrated on other the other things.

At first it was difficult, but after some time it became easier. Without any more panels popping up, the labels were just there, like a part of the scenery. By the time lunch break rolled in, he finally wasn't getting distracted anymore, whether it was in the lesson or the conversation with his friend. It was _in_ the lunch break when things started to become crazy again.

He had just been sitting down with Sun-Il on a bench outside, when suddenly his smartphone was vibrating. Taking it out, he couldn't help but open his eyes in surprise as he saw who was calling him: His mother. Why would she call him during his lunch break? Wasn't she currently busy at work?

"Mom?" He greeted as he accepted the call. "Is everything alright?"

"That depends", came her voice through the phone. "Did something unusual happen today?"

Unusual? Oh, she had no idea… didn't she? Unusual could mean many things. Eating something different at breakfast, taking a different route to school, meeting people at a place you normally don't see them or, just hypothetically, seeing names of people floating above their head.

His mother was the only person who had question marks instead of her name. So, if there were something going on more than a simple hallucination, his mother would be the most likely to find out.

"How unusual are we talking about?" He thus asked Jung-Sook who sighed in response.

"The you-wouldn't-believe-me-if-I-told-you-unusual. You know, the kind you normally don't talk about."

"There is indeed something like that…" He began and promptly got interrupted by his mom.

"Okay, that's enough. I just needed confirmation at this point. Listen, don't tell anybody about whatever it is. And I mean nobody. I have to leave for a few days because of stuff that had come up but once I am back I'll tell you everything you want to know, alright?"

"…sure."

"Until later then. And remember, don't tell anyone."

With that she ended the call, making him do the same in return.

Okay. It seemed like he wasn't hallucinating, after all. And there was indeed a secret conspiracy going around that his mother was part of. And soon, hopefully would he… but how did she know that something unusual went on? Secret conspiracies didn't stay secret because someone talks about it without reason. And she sounded so sure that she knew what he was talking about. Is seeing people's names above their head like some magical bloodline skill? Maybe he's actually a wizard!

"Is everything alright? What was the call about?" Inquired Sun-Il, making Ji-Han remember he wasn't on his own.

Shin Sun-Il. Chunbumoon's Heir. Lv 25 If the conspiracy was real than so was probably the information about him, the crazy level and title. That means he was probably part of some conspiracy, too.

He was tempted to just go ahead and ask Sun-Il what this was all about but he didn't. Not because his mother had told him to tell no one. No, it was because he still had no idea whether they were even part of the same conspiracy less if they were on the same side. Setting his friend against his mother really wasn't something he wanted to do, especially before he figured out what was even going on. And maybe he was a bit petty but to think that his best friend would keep a secret like this from him…

"It was just my mother telling me she'll be out for a while" he thus just told him. "Nothing to worry about."

"Really?" Inquired Sun-Il and his voice took on a teasing tone. "Are you sure you are going to be alright on your own? It's you we are talking about, after all!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Inquired Ji-Han narrowing his eyes and Sun-Il chuckled.

"Oh, nothing special", he replied, "just that a video game addict like you will probably forget all about homework and waste the whole day playing if there is no one around to remind you."

"That one time…"

"One time? I can remember three on top of my head…"

"Screw you", was all the defense Ji-Han could muster before his smartphone vibrated again. One look at the display and... His mother. Again?

"Mom? What's the matter?!" Considering she had just called him because of some sort of conspiracy, he felt right in worrying that something had happened. His mother noticed as much as she quickly called him down.

"Nothing happened", she told him. "I just remembered I also should tell you it would be better not to let anyone in at home until I am back, too."

"Home?"

"That's right. Okay, that was everything. Bye."

"…bye", responded Ji-Han but she had already disconnected.

"Trouble at home?" Asked Sun-Il, concern clear in his voice. Ji-Han's heart skipped a beat at that, as he finally realized that keeping what happened a secret from Sun-Il might be difficult if he was talking about it in front of him, even with only one half of the conversation.

Not that it was actually necessary to keep all these secrets. He might just later tell Sun-Il, "Hey, I am now part of the conspiracy, too" but for now he'd listen to his mother. If only so she wouldn't give him a hard time later. He was still curious on what the heck happened at home. Really curious. This would drive him crazy the whole day. Wasn't there a way he could check right now?

"Actually my mother forgot to lock our house", Ji-Han quickly spun a tale out of what Sun-Il had heard of the conversation. "Can you tell the teacher I'll be late? I've gotta go and lock it up."

"Sure. Don't take too long."

"Right."

* * *

"Arggh! What's that about?!"

When he first had gotten home, nothing there seemed to be out of the ordinary. The hallway? Nothing. The living room? The kitchen? Nothing. The storeroom? Nothing. The bathroom? Nothing. It was only when he went into his own room that he saw something out of the ordinary.

First, there were all these packaged boxes of different sizes that were scattered all over his bed and desk. From what the first glances told him, they seemed to be full of different kind of clothing, hastily crammed in. But any further speculation on them was cut short for the moment because of the second thing that was unusual: His cupboard being completely sealed with wooden planks and some literal seal-like drawings plastered all over it with a big {Do not Open}-label. It looked like some evil spirit had made that place their home and some exorcist had wanted to make sure it never came out again.

Which was a hell of a problem if he couldn't get any of his stuff… wait a moment.

He took a look at the boxes and indeed, all his stuff had been moved out of the cupboard and into the boxes. Did his mother pack it all before she went away? Hadn't she been in a hurry? Did she thought he would open it if she didn't empty it? Was the thing inside his cupboard really that important?

Damn, now he was really curious. Hopefully his mother would come back soon. If she didn't, it was only a matter of time before he went too curious and opened it up, no matter how much of a bad idea _he knew_ that was.

But for now he was able to keep his curiosity in check. He left the room, the house and made extra-sure to look the door because after that excuse forgetting to do so would just be embarrassing. Then he went back to school. If he was quick he might only miss art class. Not that he actually felt like going to school but his mother did tell him not to let anyone in. Which would happen if Sun-Il were to bring him the materials of missed classes.

* * *

In the end he did manage to make it in time. Even if he was more than glad once math was finally over, signaling the end of the day. Only missing art class did make it so that he didn't really had anything to read up on. Unfortunately their math teacher still gave them homework.

PING!

Even though it happened the last time a teacher had assigned homework, Ji-Han still had gotten surprised when a yellow question mark appeared above the teacher's head and the light-blue panel appeared in front of his face with the exact same words:

{A quest has been created.}

Was that going to appear every time now when he got homework? The last time he had ignored the message but if that was going to happen all the time, he might as well see how deep the rabbit hole went.

Discreetly he tipped on the triangle in the lower right corner and instantly the panel vanished, only for another to appear:

{**Quest Alert**

Homework: Does Everybody Hate Math?

Homework is an ever-present fact in your school life, whether you like it or not.

Give your finished math homework to your math teacher before the start of the next lesson.

Completion Award: EXP 50.  
No punishment for missing homework.

Completion Failure:  
Decreased reputation with the teaching staff.  
Increased reputation with the troublemakers.}

And, below that but still on the panel were two rectangles resembling the buttons in a computer program labeled {YES} and {NO}.

That was when he had a revelation. Names and levels above people, quest alerts on tasks, gaining experience upon completing, it appeared as if his life somehow had turned into a video game. This. Is. Amazing! He couldn't wait to see what else this "game" had to offer!

He quickly tipped at the {YES}, making the panel disappear, together with the question mark above his teacher's head. Oh, how exciting! He couldn't wait to finish his homework… did he really just think that?! Maybe he should cut down on the enthusiasm a bit. Even if it was in a game, it _was_ still homework. Being a game shouldn't be enough to make it any more bearable.

* * *

As it turned out, looking forward to the end did help him get through it, if only a bit. Unfortunately the quest only finished upon handing in the homework. Which meant he still had a lot of time to kill until he finally got to see what happened upon completing a quest. And then he also had to call Sun-Il to ask him about the history homework thanks to the game-thing making him forget to note them down.

Which promptly made Sun-Il tease him about how his mother hadn't even be gone for a day and he'd already trouble keeping up with schoolwork. Ji-Han quickly pointed out how that was before he even heard about his mother's leave so it couldn't be connected. Unfortunately he hadn't won the argument yet, as Sun-Il proclaimed that he'd probably forgot about it because of a game. Naturally he instantly denied that claim, because even if his friend was technically right, he couldn't exactly shut it off, so it didn't count!

Interestingly, he got a new quest notification when Sun-Il finally gave him the homework. He wondered that, if he hadn't forgotten to write the tasks down, he would have permanently missed the chance for EXP from his History homework when he ignored the quest notification the first time.

Speaking of, the quest was practically the same, only with a different subject:

{**Quest Alert**

Homework: Written by the Victors

Homework is an ever-present fact in your school life, whether you like it or not.

Give your finished History homework to your History teacher before the start of the next lesson.

Completion Award: EXP 50.  
No punishment for missing homework.

Completion Failure:  
Decreased reputation with the teaching staff.  
Increased reputation with the troublemakers.}

As he accepted the quest, he wondered what happened if the homework was due to not the next lesson but the lesson after it, maybe even a long-term assignment. But for now he'd just finish the homework he already got. That was going to be difficult enough as it is.

* * *

Another day and another batch of homework. However, this time only one of them gave him a new quest: {**Homework: EXP Equals MC Screwed**}. While he actually had gotten some homework for English, it just had been to learn their new vocabulary. If he had to guess, he probably hadn't gotten an actual quest because it wasn't something to hand in. That didn't mean it wouldn't screw him over if he forgot to do it, but he wouldn't get EXP for it all the same.

Which, naturally, made him even more reluctant to actually study it. He'd already not gotten to see what happened upon a finished quest because the first homework was only due to the next day, he'd gotten home later than the day before and he still had to make dinner because his mother wasn't home. So, all in all the motivation for any homework was at an all-time low. You'd think having your life turned into a video game would make everything more exciting but that was not the case. Just one day and he was already getting bored of it. Maybe if there were actually monsters to fight or epic adventures to be had, it would be more interesting. But so far it was all the same as always. Waking up, going to school, doing homework, going to sleep.

In the end, all he did was the Physics homework and English was left for another day. Instead he sat down at the computer to play actual games. Until he got hungry at last. Then he went down to make dinner.

The day before he had just ordered take-out but if his mother came back and asked him what he had eaten in the time she had been gone, he'd get an earful if all he could say would have been take-out. Thus he actually went into their kitchen and cooked.

But since he didn't have the motivation for something big, he only made rolled omelet with some spinach and rice. In fact, he made enough to eat it the next day for breakfast, too. Yes, his motivation was that low.

Funnily enough, that was when something interesting happened. He had just finished the omelet as another PING resounded through the kitchen. Ji-Han was dumbfounded as he wondered, just what kind of quest could be created when he made food. But the blue panel was not for a quest-notification but for something completely different:

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

And right after he had read it, the panel vanished and another appeared:

{A skill to craft consumable items, [Food Preparation], has been created.}

And again, another panel appeared. But this time it was of a magenta color and only covering the other panel partly instead of outright dismissing it.

{[Food Preparation (active) Lv1 EXP: 10.0%]  
A crafting technique to create consumable items  
out of other consumable items.  
Eating is one of the most basic human needs,  
but mankind has long turned it into an art.  
Registered recipes: 1  
Chance to fail when crafting: Rank * 50%}

Moreover, next to the Rolled Omelets, one more panel, this time again in blue, also showed up:

{Registered Recipe: [Han-Style Korean Rolled Egg Omelet]  
Variant: 1; Rank: Normal  
Ingredients: egg; scallion, ham, salt, vegetable oil  
Tools: chopping knife, bowl, frying pan, spatula  
Preparations: [Details]}

Ji-Han would have drowned in the mass of notifications if they weren't so exciting! Forget the quests, this was where the fun in the game was! He could just make skills and then level up these, independent from his actual level. And while he didn't know what specific skills he could create, cooking – or as it was called here, [Food Preparation] – alone already promised to be quite multi-layered.

Now with that newfound motivation, Ji-Han quickly began making more food. In the end, Ji-Han ended up making seven more different dishes: [Seasoned Spinach], [Seaweed Soup], [Fermented Napa Cabbage], [Fermented Scallions], [Cooked White Rice] and two versions of [Han-Style Kimchi Fried Rice].

That was when his cooking leveled up. Which surprised him a bit. Hadn't the EXP of the skill been at 10 percent? Shouldn't he still need to do another dish before he'd be getting a Level-Up? Could it be that his failures had given him EXP, too? That seemed like the logical explanation. If that was the case, he definitively didn't mind it. He had messed up the seasoning for the Spinach alone three times and once for the Scallions. And then he overcooked the rice once. Really, when the skill had said it had a failure rate of 50%, it wasn't kidding.

And that was whether or not he used the autopilot function, where his body went automatically through the steps on a selected recipe. But as the Spinach had showed, he could still mess up either way… even if the result of a failure on autopilot was a lot more… spectacular than a failure outside of it. Still, it was funny how he could just space out and then a PING would alert him of a finished recipe. He could use that time for something else, as long as it wasn't something he needed his hands for. He was already getting some ideas on how to abuse this system.

Nevertheless, for now he'd first had to stock up on ingredients, before he could try out more cooking. He used up quite a lot in his previous attempts…

* * *

The next day Ji-Han finally got to finish his first quest. And it was pretty underwhelming. All he got were notification with {You have completed the quest [Homework: Does Everybody Hate Math?]} and {+50EXP}. Maybe once he'd finished enough quests to Level-Up something interesting would happen. But for now he'd just use his free time focusing on getting new skills. He did get some more ingredients for cooking, but he didn't want to use up all their money while his mother was away.

But what other skills could there be? [Food Preparation] had been a crafting-type skill so he could probably make other ones. But things like [Forging] would be difficult to do at home and things like [Drawing] didn't seem to be worth the effort.

He could try out some form of martial arts but for that he should just consult Sun-Il. And he was still waiting for his mother's explanation before doing that. Maybe he should try something with languages. He still had to learn the new vocabulary list so that would be like hitting two birds with one stone.

So he took out his English textbook and studied the vocabulary. He studied and studied, then he studied some more. And in the end…

"This isn't working!" Exclaimed Ji-Han in frustration. No matter how hard he tried, he didn't get a skill for the English language. Did he do something wrong? Or aren't there any skills for languages? There were just too many things he didn't know.

"Sigh."

Maybe he should try and see if he could learn under the autopilot function of the [Food Preparation]. He had wanted to see if that could work, didn't he? And he might as well do it trying to cram in the translations. Unfortunately, the autopilot only worked for recipes that he had already registered. So which one should he make… let's go with [Cooked White Rice]. He could combine that with many other dishes so he could add some new recipes afterwards.

He went down to the kitchen, put his textbook on the counter and weighted the pages with some cutlery so they wouldn't turn over by itself. Then he put the ingredients and necessary tools on the counter and called out:

"[Food Preparation]!"

Now a light brown panel appeared in front of him. It was made out of three rows of five tiles in a darker shade of brown. Down below them where two triangles as arrows to the left and right, as well a field for {Portions} with triangles for up and down and a button labeled with {Cancel}. Some of the tiles were filled with pictures of dishes, specifically the dishes he had prepared the day before.

Ji-Han kept the Portions at the original {1}, tipped at one of the pictures and promptly a blue panel opened up in front of the brown one asking:

{Craft 1 portion of [Cooked White Rice]?}  
{YES} {NO}

Ji-Han tipped {YES} and his body went through the motions while his mind tried to study. Which was actually easier than he first thought. Even though his body in general was in lock-down, he could still move his head without messing up anything. In fact, he didn't even need to look down to prepare the food. So he had no trouble rehearsing the vocabulary while making the [Cooked White Rice]. The only real problem was sometimes to keep his eyes on the book when his body went through a specific motion but that was a minor issue.

When he was finished, he had one successful [Cooked White Rice] and the pride from managing to exploit the game mechanics to do two things at the same time. Even if he didn't get a skill for English, he now at last could do something for school and play this game at the same time!

PING

Eagerly Ji-Han looked at the panel that had opened. Did he get the language skill, after all?!

{Due to your habit of making intelligent  
decisions, you gained 1 WIS.}

"No way…" He breathed out. His stats increased outside of levels?! Then what was the EXP for? Wait. Maybe they increased _also_ outside of levels… damn, he really hoped they did. Otherwise it would be way too difficult to raise his stats… thinking about it, would raising his stats have any effect in the first place? Even if this was a game, this was still Real Life, after all. Seeing the name of people above their heads was one thing but getting stronger by raising a number? That was completely different.

…maybe he should just try it out and see what happens? He had some dumbbells. So, if the stats increased in a somewhat logical manner, working out using those should increase his Strength. He had the next day off so he could try it out all-day long. For now he'd do some more cooking while learning.

When the day ended he had added three more recipes, [Soybean Sprout Soup], [Han-Style Korean Pan-Fried Fish] and [Han-Style Kimchi Fried Rice], to the [Food Preparation]. And while he didn't level up his skill, his studying gave him a different message:

{Diligent studying causes  
your INT to go up by 1.}

So all the English vocabulary rehearsal was good for something else, too. This game was getting better and better!

* * *

When Ji-Han woke up the next day, he was in good spirits. He had no school today, which meant that he could use the full day – minus homework – to spend experimenting with the game.

So, after a breakfast consisting out of shrink-wrapped sandwiches since he didn't want to use up all the money for cooking-attempts before his mother came back, he went out to the shed. Today he wanted to try out, whether or not an increase in STR would actually make him stronger. But for that he'd first have to find out, how much "strength" he actually had at the moment. But since he didn't own any Strength-measuring devices, he had to improvise.

Which was why he was in the shed, filling a box with random stuff and tried lifting it. Then, if he managed to do it, he'd put more stuff in it, otherwise he'd take things out, until he got something he barely could not lift. Then he would work out to raise his STR and afterwards see if he could lift it then.

Which took a lot more time than he expected. He thought it would be done in half an hour but now it was lunch time and he had still not found the right combination of objects. The things he had were all just so different that putting in just enough to make it just barely too heavy to lift was a lot more difficult than just using a number of metal blocks or actual weights.

Sighing, Ji-Han went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Maybe a short break would be good for him…

Suddenly Ji-Han heard the doorbell ring. Confused he looked up from the ingredients. Someone was coming? Who could that be? His mother would just get in without ringing the doorbell and Sun-Il would have called before.

He went to the intercom and pushed the "connect"-button.

"Yes?" he asked. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, someone does live here. Interesting."

Say what?

"Why wouldn't there anyone living here? And, who are you for that matter?!"

"Forgive me. I always get like this when I find something intriguing. It comes with my job as researcher. I am like… a 'Speed Wagon' is the mundane term I believe. Although personally I prefer to be called the 'Truth Wagon'. I am a Seeker of Truth, after all."

Just what was with this guy?!

"And what is a 'Seeker of Truth' doing at my house?" Ji-Han inquired skeptically.

"As the name implies, I am always looking for the truth. And now a rare opportunity has presented itself: The heart, or rather, the door to the heart, the keyhole, previously hidden in the most secret location, has now appeared in such a mundane environment. I cannot… 'Pass this up' is what I believe kids nowadays would say."

"The heart? Keyhole?" Ji-Han repeated what the visitor had said. He had no idea what that guy was referring to. Which the Seeker of Truth seemed to notice immediately.

"You do not know of it? Interesting", he commented. "While the keyhole is not something that is considered common knowledge, I would expect different from someone who is practically living on top of it… unless… they are the reason for the change of its location in the first place! Did you recently, no, in the last four days, develop a special ability?"

Ji-Han was completely taken aback.

"Wha- how- ", he tried to form a response but he couldn't. Just how did he know about that?! Just what the hell was the keyhole?!

"So you did!" Truth Wagon exclaimed excitedly. "Still, you are not the first Natural Ability User, nor will you be the last. So why would the keyhole appear with you? What makes you so special compared to the others? Interesting, very interesting. I'll come in."

"What?!" Ji-Han exclaimed in shock but no response came. Instead the hallway became dark as if the day had suddenly turned into night. In panic Ji-Han flipped the light switch over and over but there seemed to be no electricity.

Then suddenly a light appeared next to him and he let out a startled yelp. The light came from sort of futuristic-looking visor, which was like a horizontal bar on a white cloth that completely covered the face of a figure otherwise shrouded in a dark hooded cloak.

"Oh, you are here, too?" Noted the newcomer. "This is just one surprise after another. I should have been the only one in this Illusion Barrier yet here you are. Did you intrude here on purpose or accidentally?"

Ji-Han just stared blankly at the figure in front of him. Was that the guy he had talked to the whole time? And did he just teleport into his house?

"From your lack of reaction I assume the second."

Suddenly literal cracks in space appeared around them, letting light shine through. Then all the darkness shattered and the surroundings returned to how they were before but the newcomer was still there. And then Ji-Han got another shock when above the Seeker of Truth there was _no_ label or level floating there. That never happened before. Just what was that guy?!

"Interesting. But I should not forget what I came here for in the first place. I can always study you while I am breaking any seals in place."

Study him? Ji-Han didn't like the sound of that. But for now the Truth Wagon passed him and… went upstairs? Ji-Han followed him. Which wasn't exactly a smart decision considering that he had no idea who that guy was but he was too confused by everything that happened to think straight.

Without any hesitation, as if he knew the layout of the house, the Seeker of Truth went towards Ji-Han's bedroom, directing his attention towards the closet cupboard for just a second, before walking towards the chair at his desk and sitting down on it. He then span around facing the hesitant Ji-Han.

"Now then", the Seeker of Truth spoke. "Would you mind telling me about that ability of yours?"

That was when Ji-Han was reminded of his mother telling him to not do precisely that. And this guy… he was just too surreal. Walking in this place like he owned it, treating things Ji-Han had no idea of like common knowledge and spoke to him in a friendly manner yet hiding behind a mask, not to mention having no labels above their head. Ji-Han was at a complete loss as to what to do.

"Is something the matter?" The Seeker of Truth inquired through his silence. "Do you not want to tell me about your ability?"

"… I don't know?" Ji-Han replied unsure but it seemed to be the right answer as the Seeker of Truth suddenly perked up.

"You don't know?" He repeated. "You are a Natural Ability User so maybe… tell me, young friend, is this perhaps the first time you have come into contact with someone from the Abyss?"

"The abyss?!"

"So it is. This is unfortunate. But if you do not even know the most fundamental information, you will have difficulties to answer any of my questions. Since we have a lot of time until the seal breaks, you might as well use this time to expand your knowledge. I would be elated if I were to become your senior in searching for the truth, so go ahead and ask questions to fill those gaps!"

Wait? Really? He was going to tell him what was going on?

"Then…" Began Ji-Han. "What exactly is a… 'Natural Ability User'?"

"Ah, yes, this serves well as our first question", acknowledged Truth Wagon. "Opposite to most people, who have to expend effort to gain their abilities, Natural Ability Users are granted a special ability from the world itself. However, the details of the ability are generally not decided by the world and instead take the form of something most important to the user.

For example, someone who had nearly burned to death might get the ability to control the very element that nearly claimed his life. Someone who had been imprisoned all their life might get the ability to teleport or turn intangible if they wish to get free or invulnerability if they are too afraid to go outside. This is why I can't stop studying Natural Ability Users, how they came about and how they develop, especially Late Bloomers."

"Late Bloomers?"

"There are two types of Natural Ability Users. Those that are powerful from the moment they gain their abilities and those that start weak but have the potential to grow without limit if they are allowed to do so. As such those so-called Late Bloomers can potentially develop more and more aspects of their own power, which makes them interesting to study."

"…and I am such an Ability User?" exclaimed Ji-Han aghast and Truth Wagon nodded.

"Indeed. Or at last, so I believe. For only someone so important to the world to be given a Natural Ability could influence the keyhole to be moved to their place."

There was that word again. Just what was the 'keyhole' and what had it to do with the world? Wait.

"The world gives out abilities?!" Ji-Han nearly shouted as he thought back on what the guy had said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What this means? Nothing much except what I said. The world gives out abilities… oh, I see. You do not yet know of the Gaia Theory."

"Actually", Ji-Han interjected, "I know of the Gaia Theory. It describes the earth as a single organism with its own will… wait. The Gaia Theory is real?!"

"Indeed. This world, Gaia, has its own will. A will, which it enforces merciless. And before you ask another question, I should point out what you should not do to avoid making it kill you."

What the hell?! The world also kills people?!

"The world does generally not involve itself into the affairs of people", continued Truth Wagon without noticing or ignoring Ji-Han freaking out. "But it wants to keep the Abyss contained to itself. This means that any blatant use of supernatural abilities in front of the public eye results in the death of the offender, generally through a form of bad luck. What exactly is an affront to this so-called 'Interference Law' is not always clear but it has proven that as long as people without knowledge about the Abyss can't tell one is using supernatural abilities, it does not bring down the wrath of Gaia. Which is why the people of the Abyss act within Illusion Barriers."

"Illusion Barriers?"

"Illusion Barriers come in many variants depending on the creator's skill but generally they are all pocket dimensions separate from the real world with only those inside that the caster allowed in or who broke their way in forcefully. No matter how many actions one takes inside one, no matter how much they change the environment, it does not affect the real world. It is within those that anyone of the Abyss uses their abilities so to not bring down Gaia's wrath upon them.

In fact, the creation of an Illusion Barrier is one of the most basic abilities found in the Abyss as well as one of the easiest to initiate because Gaia itself supports their creation as well as their maintenance. However, currently you should not attempt to create one as even empty Illusion Barriers are at this moment filled with Heartless and as you have awakened your ability just recently, you would most likely not be able to fend them off. So you should avoid creating Illusion Barriers for now, especially now that I am trying to access the keyhole."

Okay. Now he just had to know what the keyhole was. It came up so often it had to be important. And when he inquired about it, the Seeker of Truth was just as willing to address it:

"As we have already established, the world has its own will upon which it acts. Just like a living being. But every living being has a 'brain', a 'core' from which all its actions are directed from. The world is no different. Whether it is capable of actual conscious thought or just acts on it instincts has yet to be determined, but this core, generally referred to as the 'Heart of the World' does indeed exist. And the keyhole is its only connection to the outside."

"And something like that is around here?" Spoke Ji-Han aghast and the Seeker of Truth nodded.

"Exactly!" He confirmed enthusiastically. "For the keyhole to be in such a mundane environment, it has to be more important than the world tree! And the only element special enough around here to warrant this, is you, the new Natural Ability User! Can you now understand my excitement about your ability?!"

Ji-Han supposed the Truth Wagon had a point. However….

"But my ability doesn't seem to be anything special so far…"

"If your ability does appear weak, it is only because you have not yet found the true depths of it", the cloaked man refuted. "There is no ability given by Gaia that is weak! You have had your ability for four days. It is natural that you yet don't know all of its aspects. Why don't you tell me how much you already know? I already expressed my interest in it and I am willing to use my knowledge to give you some ideas in exchange."

"Okay", responded Ji-Han, eager to see what the Seeker of Truth could tell him. "So far I am able to see names above the heads of most people, as well as a something like a power level and a title. My homework comes in quests, which give me Experience Points when I finish them but I have yet to see what those do. I've got a cooking skill that takes over my body and cooks on its own as long as I have all the ingredients and tools prepared. And just yesterday I received a message telling me my INT raised by one. But like the Experience Points, I have yet to see what that does."

Having said all that, Ji-Han looked at Truth Wagon with expectation, wondering whether or not he could help him. The Seeker of Truth only took a moment to analyze the information, then he spoke in all seriousness:

"You sound like the character in a video game."

"I am… actually a bit surprised someone who is called 'Seeker of Truth' knows what a video game is", Ji-Han admitted. "But, yes, I also think that this power is supposed to be like a video game. I just don't know all the rules."

"You do not become a Seeker of Truth by disregarding any new developments, even if they are related to entertainment", Truth Wagon explained. "Now then, let us dissect everything you have mentioned one piece at a time:

First, you mentioned you can see the names of most people. That means there are exceptions. Who have you met that is one of those exceptions?"

Ji-Han hesitated.

"…you?" He finally admitted, making his conversation partner freeze for a moment.

"Interesting", he finally proclaimed. "Yes, that is one way to discern the true nature. As only people have their names shown above their head, someone who is not a person to begin with, would not have this. Just like the puppet through which I am acting."

"A puppet?!"

"Ah, yes, this figure you see before you is just a construct I created. However, since I am directly controlling it, addressing it is just like addressing me. Thus this should not impact our conversation at all.

Coming back to your ability, besides people's names it also shows other general information. It is possible that after fulfilling certain conditions it might – 'unlock' I believe is the gaming term – new information.

The second mentioned aspect of your ability are the quests. Can you describe them in more detail? When is one created and what happens when one is finished?"

Ji-Han paused for a moment as he thought on exactly what happened when he got a quest.

"I get homework and then above the teacher appears a question mark. Then in front of me there comes this notification {A quest has been created.} When I ignore it, it goes away on its own but if I don't, it expends with a name, tasks, completion award, completion failure, as in what happens when I fail the quest, and then asks me if I want to do the quest. Then it vanishes until I finish the quest, where I get a notification, and gives me the EXP, I mean the award that's specified. But I haven't yet got enough EXP to level up so I don't know what will happen once I do. Oh, and I have so far not failed any quest… though I also have only finished one come to think of it, the others are still ongoing…"

"This makes sense", noted Truth Wagon. "In games quests are just tasks given to the player with clearing condition, as well as rewards for completion and punishment for failure. Homework in general fits this concept really well. What is the punishment for failure of one such homework?"

"Ehm… pretty much just 'decreased reputation' with the teachers and 'increased reputation' with the 'troublemakers'."

"Hm. So nothing you would not have received if you were not a Natural Ability User. I wonder if that holds true for all 'quests' or if that is just because of the mundane nature of the task. It is something I want to try out but for now let us focus on the third aspect: The Cooking skill.

The most special aspect about this skill is the fact that you have no control over your body once it starts and that it goes through all required motions on its own. Have you ever been interrupted while trying to cook something using the skill?"

"…not yet."

"I see. This is definitively something worth trying. However, cooking alone is too specialized as an ability to fit in with the other facts, being able to see people's names and gaining quests. It stands to reason, your video game ability should also give you other skills to use. How exactly did you gain the Cooking-skill?"

"When I was cooking, I suddenly got a message saying I've got a skill called [Food Preparation] as well as my first recipe [Han-Style Korean Rolled Egg Omelet]. It came in a notification that explained that it was a crafting-type skill to make food items out of food items and that it had a failure rate of 50% multiplied with the rank of the dish. Now, whenever I make a new dish, I get a recipe for it, no matter if I had success or not. Then I can say [Food Preparation] and chose the recipe from a panel and my body goes through the autopilot option. Oh, and I couldn't find any difference in the success rate when I did the dish normally without the autopilot. But the result of a failure does change from bad to inedible when I use the autopilot."

"I see", spoke the Seeker of Truth, "since trying to cook has gained you the skill [Food Preparation], have you tried out to see whether other actions will give you other skills?"

"Not much", admitted Ji-Han. "I've tried to get the English skill by learning vocabulary but I haven't had any luck so far. And I don't really know any martial arts and I don't know how much magic is actually real?!"

"So either you cannot gain different skills, languages do not count as skills or learning words is not enough to develop a language skill. As you received [Food Preparation] by actually going through the process of cooking, you should also use in English in an actual conversation before dismissing the language as a possible skill. So for the sake of this experiment, we will now continue this conversation in English."

Wait. What?!

"Wait-"

"Speak in English. This is the most efficient way to see whether or not this theory holds true."

"Ah, okay", Ji-Han conceded. "But then you have to talk slower. I might had English since Elementary School but I am still not used to fast English."

"If it bears no fruit after a while, we shall switch back to Korean. But for now this shall suffice.

That said, let us move on to the last element on your list: The raising of INT. INT itself, as you have probably already deduced from the use of all-capital letters, probably refers to one of the most common gaming statistics "Intelligence" as the other uses of 'INT' do not make sense in this context. How exactly did it rise?"

"I was studying English vocabulary and then I got a message saying that those studies raised my INT by one. But, like I said, I do not know what it means. Does it mean my real Intelligence?"

"It stands to reason that it speaks of your real intelligence. The real question is, whether it just depicts your current statistics in a video game-like manner or if the increase of your statistics increases your actual physical and mental capabilities. For that I want to come back to the second point, the EXP. In games enough EXP generally results in a Level-Up and a Level-Up often increases the parameters. Yet you already have a method for increasing parameters: repeated actions. As these are how someone outside a game increases their physical and mental capabilities, if a Level-Up increases your parameters, too, it would prove that the game statistics increase your real capabilities instead of the other way around.

However, this only holds true if a Level-Up increases the statistics. In some games a Level-Up does this not. Instead it gives out special skills or other 'Perks' once the specific amount of EXP has been reached. But until your first Level Up", PING! "this is something you will not be able to figure out. Did something happen?"

Even though the Seeker of Truth did not hear the sound of a new panel appearing, he noticed Ji-Han flinching and his eyes flickering towards the specific place in space.

"I-"

"Language."

"I got a new skill", Ji-Han explained enthusiastically and then began to read the content of the notification loud out:

"A skill to listen to a new language, [English Listening], has been created. [English Listening]. Passive. Level 1. EXP, 14%. The ability to write in the English language and alphabet. To better communicate with their peers, humans created languages. Finding the correct meaning to a sentence takes an average of 0.5 seconds for every INT-Check."

"So you are capable of creating more skills than just [Food Preparation]", noted Truth Wagon satisfied. "It is just a matter of the depth you are using the ability with."

"Holy Shit."

"Language."

"Sorry", responded Ji-Han sheepishly, "but I just looked at the EXP, and it increases fast when you are talking. It is now at 39 %."

"In this case, notify me of the exact time when it reaches 100 % and what happens when it does. As for now, I want to bring attention to the fact that the skill only includes the 'listening'-part of the English language. With which it stands to reason that you gain more than one skill for the English language or to…" Ping! "…That was indeed fast. What is the difference to before?"

Staring intensively at the notification, Ji-Han had raised his arm instantly, the EXP got to 100%, even before the actual Level Up-Notification came.

"I got a message saying the skill leveled up. It is now at Lv 2 with 0 % EXP. And the time for every INT-check takes now 0.495 seconds."

"And now?"

"The same only with the EXP being 1.9 %."

"As expected. Skills level up independent of the EXP gained from quests and the boons, as well as the requirements for higher levels, increase with every level. As expected from a game. But coming back to what I wanted to explain earlier, I assume every language will have four different skills associated with it. Your ability separates the written and spoken parts of a language as well as understanding and using it. But to save time we will not try to 'fill the set', I believe, is what youngster nowadays would say and instead continue in Korean."

"O-okay…"

"Back to the matter of game statistics and their influences on your body. As I had previously stated, we currently do not possess the means to verify those. However, there is something else we can try."

"What is…" Shiiiing! "Argh!"

Biting pain appeared on his right cheek and he instantly lifted his hand towards it. At the same time an orange floating number appeared in his field of vision with a "Ding" saying {-5}.

"What the-" Ji-Han quickly turned towards the mirror to inspect his face but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"What did you do?" He asked the Truth Wagon after turning back to face him. That was, when he noticed a thin metal ring with sharpened edge and purple grip floating next to him.

"It is quite simple", proclaimed the researcher. "Physical and mental capabilities expressed as statistic values is actually not the most common feature of video games. That would be the 'game over'-mechanic. In nearly every game it is possible to lose. However, opposite to real life, where you only have one chance, video games often include a mechanic that allows one to continue even if one makes mistakes. This is generally expressed through either extra-lives or a health bar or something similar that quantifies the damage taken. It is difficult to test the former without actually killing you, but the second only takes an instant. So, tell me, did anything happen when I cut you?"

Ji-Han just stared at his opponent blankly. He had cut him. He had attacked him because he wanted to see what it did. Without asking for his opinion. What's more, Ji-Han hadn't even noticed it until it happened.

For the first time since the appearance of the newcomer, he felt dread. The Seeker of Truth was way out of his league and if he wanted to kill Ji-Han for one second, all it took for the chakram to aim just a bit to the left and he'd be dead! No question asked, no second chance. One move and it was his end.

It took all his efforts to calm down and not run away screaming. If the Truth Wagon hadn't been so civil the whole time earlier, he probably would have regardless. But for now he could hold on. The researcher had already expressed his great interest in him and was too interested in him to kill him. He had to believe that, at last.

"I actually got a notification of {-5} when you cut me", he thus continued the conversation, trying his best to erase all thoughts on danger and death. "But what kind of magic was that? I couldn't see any wound."

"Ah, so you've noticed the second effect being a video game character had on your body, too. Not only can we conclude you indeed have something similar to a health bar. But it also appears that, as a video character, you cannot be permanently damaged as video game characters do not show visible wounds. Additionally, having the body of a virtual character to such a degree, it strongly hints to the video game statistics in fact enhancing your physical and mental capabilities and not the other way around. Moreover, I am also confident, that any changes of those will not affect your appearance. It is even possible you will not age or grow hungry anymore. The implications are fascinating! It is unfortunate, we will have to cut any experiments short. I hope that when we meet the next time, you will have explored many more facets of your ability."

"You are going?" Asked Ji-Han confused and the Seeker of Truth nodded.

CRACK!

"I have finally broken through the seal", he explained as fissures appeared in the wood blocking Ji-Han's cupboard. "I shall now undertake what I came here for in the first place: Reaching the Heart of the World!

CRASH!

The wooden planks burst apart and the doors slammed open. But where Ji-Han expected to see compartments, there were none. Instead, in the center of the wooden back was a literal keyhole. It was of simple design, just a circle above a triangle, but large enough to nearly fill the whole cupboard. Its outline was also glowing while the inside was completely black, so black in fact, that it seemed like an abyss ready to swallow anyone.

"Ah, so that is it!" Exclaimed the Seeker of Truth in excitement. But before he could say anymore, in one instant, dark blue shadowy winds burst forth from the inside of the keyhole, throwing Ji-Han back against the wall and taking away his consciousness, never to see the fate of his companion.

* * *

When Ji-Han regained consciousness, he first heard violent winds storming all around him. The sound instantly washed away any tiredness he might have had and in haste he opened his eyes, staring directly at the asphalt below him. He quickly picked himself up from the ground to take a better look at his surroundings but froze halfway in a crouching-position. The reason for that was the asphalt that was broken off two yards away from him. Or, to be precise, the giant dark abyss that extended beyond it. Like in a trance Ji-Han stood up, until a bursting sound to his right caught his attention.

As he spun around, he caught side of a damaged building where parts of it broke off to fly upwards. As his eyes followed them, they soon widened in shock as he caught sight of where exactly they were heading to: A giant floating ball of dark energy with parts of broken architecture all orbiting around it.

The parts of the building hit something like pieces of a gate, pushing it out of alignment and into the giant orb. Ji-Han gulped and took a good look around. And what he saw, was the end of the world: A single, maybe twenty-yard large island of urban streets and buildings, surrounded by a sea of storm clouds and nothingness with a giant black hole above it.

"No way", muttered Ji-Han numbly. Everything… and everyone… was gone. Was… was that their doing? Did that happen because the Seeker of Truth had opened the keyhole? And he, too fascinated with his cool new ability, had not tried to stop him?! Could he have even stopped him? Maybe he should have cooked him something.

Damn it! Why did the world give him such a useless ability?! And why did she even have to move the keyhole in the first place?! Wasn't that just asking for it?! How the hell was he supposed to stop the destruction of the world when the world itself was just so stupid?!

And the best part? He was actually still alive. So now he got to sit down and watch while the world got assimilated by a black hole piece by piece. Maybe he should just jump into the abyss now and end it all.

Ji-Han looked down the edge of the rest of the world and came face to face with two glowing yellow eyes.

With a yelp he stumbled backwards and fell onto his behind as from beyond the broken street rose a dark figure, a black giant with bulky arms, tentacle-hair and a large hole in the shape of a heart in its chest.

'What the- that's the guy from my dream!' Ji-Han realized as the monstrosity raised its right leg and set it on top of the asphalt, before using it to lift himself up, dragging the left leg up with it, to also put it on the little island. Then it stared at Ji-Han intensively with its yellow eyes, before pulling its hand backwards.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Shouted Ji-Han as he stumbled to pick himself up and run out of the way of the dark pool that emerged when the giant monster punched the ground.

As soon as he heard the fist meeting the asphalt, he turned around and, sure enough, small black shadows with yellow eyes started to rise from the pool of darkness. Those little humanoids with big feet claws and antenna looked like the ones from his dream, too. However, unlike his dream, he didn't even have a weapon to defend himself with.

"Don't come this way!" Ji-Han shouted as he ran away but naturally the little buggers didn't listen to him. Instead, they hopped or turned flat to slide over the ground towards him. Not to mention that there literally was nowhere to run to. Just a bunch of steps and Ji-Han found himself on the opposite end of their little island.

Dread filled him as he looked down the abyss and when he turned around, this only intensified in the face of the half a dozen creatures gunning for him.

"Damn it!" He cursed and took a fighting stance, or rather, what he imagined a fighting stance to look like. "Alright. If the dream wasn't just bullshit and I actually can get a sword, then _now_ would be a really good time!"

To his surprise, it actually worked. A ring of ever-changing digitals and capital letters appeared around his wrist. Then the ring moved down his hand and continued in the same direction even after it had reached the finger tips. Additionally, in the space that the ring had passed, piece by piece an object materialized. The object, however, was not the sword from his dream as he had expected. Instead it was a giant metal key with a golden handle and a silver shaft, whose teeth were like a trapezium where someone had cut out a stylistic crown. At the end of the grip there was a chain attached to it with a golden globe.

The little monsters actually stopped for a moment as the key appeared and from inside his mind a word began to form.

[Keyblade…], it resounded. [Keyblade…]

"Keyblade?" Voiced Ji-Han in surprise as he studied the object in his hands. He got the "key" part, but where was the "blade"? It looked more like a pipe… woah!

He couldn't observe the Keyblade anymore as the monsters had started to move again and were now jumping directly upon him. And while it wasn't his idea of a weapon, the Keyblade was at last something to defend himself with. And it was closely shaped to a crowbar, which he knew to be a good melee weapon. Even if he had to wonder why the key had appeared so that the teeth were on the top, the side, he wasn't blocking and attacking with. But nothing of that actually mattered in face of the horde attacking him.

Like in frenzy, he swung around his Keyblade, knocking the little monsters away to give himself some space, only for a sphere of darkness to fly through the air towards him. It seemed that once, again, his dream was a tad bit different, as the big guy did not continue to use one attack until he hit its hand and instead, just went with homing balls of energy while Ji-Han was pinned down by his minions.

Not with him!

Ji-Han ran forward, ignoring the little minions and went straight for the big guy, while the orbs of darkness went over his head. He soon reached the big guy who was still on his knees shooting the projectiles from his chest with his arms by his side. Which, thinking back to his dream, Ji-Han started attacking at once.

Unlike his dream, Ji-Han could actually feel the weight of the object in his hands, the force of each individual strike and the resistance of the monster's body as the Keyblade went through it. Which was actually pretty small considering the bulging muscles of the giant and the fact that his weapon didn't have a cutting edge. But opposite to the rules of physics, the key went through the complete hand and did not damage it beyond some dark particles that broke away from the giant where the Keyblade entered and exited.

{-25}

Pain seared through his back and a message in front of him told him about the damage he had taken.

So he quickly turned around, swatting away the minion that had stuck up behind him, dissolving it in the process.

{+12 EXP}, another message told him, but he was too focused on the other five approaching enemies to care. He took a step forwards; and promptly slipped on some sort of loose stone under his foot, he didn't know had been there.

As he fell forwards, he did so directly onto a minion and, thinking quickly, put the tip of the Keyblade to the front, impaling the monster and supporting himself at the same time. At last, he tried to. But while the first one actually did work, resulting in one more dissolved creature and {+11 EXP}, the key was too short and at a wrong angle to stop him from sprawling onto the ground.

Even so, Ji-Han had already noticed from the last time he fought those guys that standing still was a bad idea and thus he ignored the pain and rolled over the ground to the side, before picking himself up at the new location to, again, face off against the remaining monsters. Only to throw himself to the ground as one of the arms of the big guy came swinging, nearly hitting him.

"Damn it", he berated himself for forgetting the main problem but then the small ones were already upon him again and he had to deal with them first. But for that he had to get far enough from the big guy to see his attacks coming. Thus he ran away to get more distance between him and the monsters and then deal with one threat at the same time.

To his dismay, the boss monster hit the ground again, recreating the pool of darkness to summon more minions. But as the fight up until now had showed, trying to fight both of them at the same time would only overwhelm him. He just had to kill the minions faster than they could be summoned!

Gripping the Keyblade tightly, he smacked the monsters jumping him, ignoring the once sliding on the ground because he couldn't damage them in the first place, before stepping in a turn to the side as to not get blindsided by the ones that had snuck behind him. Then those were struck down by multiple quick strikes from his weapon.

{+3 EXP}{+7 EXP}{+2 EXP}{+4 EXP}, and then he was finally able to deal with the new minions.

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to utilize blunt weapons freely, [Blunt Weapon Mastery], has been created.}

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Allows the user to freely handle blunt weapons.  
10% increase in attack damage with blunt weapons.  
5% increase in attack speed with blunt weapons.}

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to wield the powers of the Keyblade,  
[Keyblade Mastery], has been created.}

{[Keyblade Mastery (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Allows the user to handle the different techniques of a Keyblade.  
1% increase in attack damage of skills used with the Keyblade.}

Of course, now he had to get all those messages. Now, when he was in a battle of life and death. He quickly waved them away and ran towards the new batch of enemies. This time there were only three as the big boss had switched gears earlier. Luckily, he took some time whenever he changed between attacks and so there was a good chance he'd be able to finish of the minions before the start of the attack!

This revelation filled Ji-Han with new vigor and he took down the three with little trouble, netting him {+5 EXP}, {+12 EXP} and {+5 EXP}. Then, to his surprise, where he had destroyed the third minion, a piece of a gray-colored yet transparent crystal lay on the ground. It was something he had never seen before. Thus, his Gamer-Instinct were telling him to pick it up, before he turned to face the boss. The monster in question was kneeling on the ground, supporting itself with its right hand, the head down low and the left up to the shoulder in the ground, as if it was just a large bag that he needed to reach the bottom of instead of the solid asphalt he knew it was.

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to find the target's information,  
[Observe], has been created.}

{[Observe (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Allows the user to see information about the target.  
Shows the Name, Level, Title and Class of characters.  
Shows the Name, Level, Type and general information of monsters.  
Shows the Name of Items.}

"Observe?" Repeated Ji-Han out loud and at once a giant transparent panel of brown color appeared next to the monster saying:

{Darkside Lv10  
Type: Pureblood-Heartless  
Enormous Heartless that can open gates for lesser Pureblood Heartless.}

The first thought that went through Ji-Han's head was 'Yeah, I noticed', referring to its ability to summon minions. The second was 'Oh, shit, this thing's three times as strong as me!' But unlike the Truth Wagon, where he could not even begin to see the difference in power, here he could see its movements and take down its minions! He would not give up!

Meanwhile the Darkside finally lifted its hand out of the ground, holding an orb of darkness inside of it, one with a red core opposite to the purple ones that he had used before. Then it went to support the left wrist with its right hand and the orb fluctuated, creating a shockwave while it did so. The shockwave, however, was so small that only being directly near it would actually affect him, at all. After that the boss slowly stood up, lifting the orb with its hands like that until it was over its head. There it separated the hands from the orb, holding the hands up like a prayer. Then it completely ignored the orb, which continued to float in the air while the giant directed its attention towards Ji-Han.

The Darkside swung its right arm at Ji-Han, or rather as if Ji-Han was inside its reach but this was only to produce an orb of darkness in its hand, which it, once again, proceeded to slam onto the ground, its hand a fist on top of a sea of darkness.

"Come at me!" Ji-Han shouted as he stayed at the edge of the circle, not wanting to expose his back again to the minions that spawned from the dark pool. And when his eyes met those of a little guy, he got the idea to use [Observe] on it.

{Shadow Lv3  
Type: Pureblood-Heartless.  
A Heartless that emerges from various places. It is completely  
untouchable while hiding within the darkness.}

PING!

{[Observe]'s Level has risen by 1.}

And with that message, the brown panel changed slightly, adding another line:

{Shadow Lv3  
HP: 39  
Type: Pureblood-Heartless.  
A Heartless that emerges from various places. It is completely  
untouchable while hiding within the darkness.}

Whoa. Did he actually get the ability to see his enemy's HP?! Holy shit, that was great! That was exactly what he had been missing in the fight against the Darkside in his dream! That meant he could finally tell how effective his attacks were to his enemies! Even if an actual HP-bar would have been better, this was at last _something_.

With new vigor, he attacked the minion, only to realize that the value for HP did not go down at all. Yet he could also tell that his attacks were doing something, since the Shadow vanished with the second hit, followed by {+10 EXP}.

Did that mean he could only see its maximum HP?! Aaargh! What a stupid ability! He had to level up [Observe] some more for that information, didn't he? Damn, his ability was picky!

"[Observe]", Ji-Han shouted as he took a look at the next Shadow, a measly {Lv1} with {HP: 10}, only for a small explosion to occur behind him.

Instinctively Ji-Han spun around but couldn't see anything. Cursing for falling for something like a feint, he turned back in haste and dispatched one of the attacking Shadow {+1 EXP}. That was when he saw a small orb of darkness with a violet core impact on the ground, resulting in the explosion he had heard before. Confused Ji-Han looked up. There was the orb of darkness with a red core that the Darkside has sent into the air before. But now it was producing these little ones that flew all over the place.

"Shit, shit, shit", cursed Ji-Han as he ran away from the epicenter while little explosions occurred all around him.

This allowed the Darkside to summon three more Shadows in sequence, without Ji-Han there to destroy them before they could make a group. But there was no way he could fight against the minions while evading a rain of bombs from above. He could only look in one direction!

That was why Ji-Han ended up at the edge of the island, as he waited for the minions to come to him. Having nothing better to do, Ji-Han used [Observe] on the sphere in the sky, as well as all three Shadows. But while the first didn't work at all and the Shadows were as expected, the constant use of the skill allowed it to level-up again, changing the HP of the Shadow from {HP: 21} to {HP: 21/21}. In other words, he could now see the actual HP.

But before he could try it out on the big boss, he first had to mess up its minions. Which was easier said than done, considering he stood in between an abyss and deadly rain from above. Too many steps in either direction would or at last could be deadly. Considering the slow motions of the boss, Ji-Han felt more threatened now than when he had stood next to it. Even if he was currently stopping the summoning to already prepared another attack.

Ji-Han grit his teeth and took {+7 EXP} down {+3 EXP} the Shadows {+9EXP}, before using [Observe] on the boss.

{Darkside Lv15  
HP: 322/350  
Type: Pureblood-Heartless  
Enormous Heartless that can open gates for lesser Pureblood Heartless.}

{322}. That was the goal. And from the looks of it, his earlier attacks had already damaged the boss monster. Which meant, he could win this!

…if he hit him, like, 100 more times? Damn, he had his work cut out for him. For now the rain of bombs had stopped and the Darkside had knelt down with its hands by its side, darkness gathering in the hole at its chest. Okay, it's homing missiles again. Now he had to watch out for their trajectories… but if he continued to only watch and avoid, he'd never defeat this enemy. It would only be a matter of time until his HP reached 0! He had to attack!

Ji-Han ran forward, keeping his eyes on the chest. From what he had observed, pun intended, the spheres flew straight for a moment until they homed in on him. In that case it should be possible to see them coming, if he just attacked the hand from behind!

A plan forming, Ji-Han continued forward. He didn't manage to reach the hand, before he could hear the sound of a projectile being fired above his head, but at last he managed to slash at the hand while he was jumping towards its backside. There he positioned himself so that he could watch the trajectory while smacking the hand as if his life depended on it, which it did.

Ji-Han managed to get three more hits in until a second sphere was shot out and the first flew too high for Ji-Han to continue to observe it while doing more to the hand than just some scratches on the surface. Making a quick decision, Ji-Han focused on the hand for one more hit, before looking back into the air, searching for the first sphere. Which wasn't too hard to find, since it now came back down towards him. Ji-Han quickly got another two hits in for good measure, before getting away. Now came the dodging phase, again.

Watching the orb coming down, he waited until it was closer, before taking some steps back, letting it crush harmlessly on the ground. Then, he fixated on the next one and repeated the processes. Luckily those were just as slow-going as their creator, allowing him to do such maneuvers without too much of a danger to himself, a far cry from the hectic of the earlier madness.

One, two, three, four, five; and the Darkside stopped shooting, leaving two more spheres in the air, while the monster switched patterns. Ji-Han made sure to bring even more distance between him and it, less it suddenly went for a crazy close-quarter area-of-effect kind of attack. That was, when an ominous CRACK behind him brought his attention.

Spinning around he was just in time to see a piece of asphalt separating itself from his little island and flying into the sky above. Damn it, he had forgotten about that one. Would he still die, even if he defeated the monster? Falling into the abyss when the last part of the world vanished? Or was perhaps the Darkside at fault and everything would reset if he just defeated it? He could only hope. After all, there was nothing else left.

Suddenly his attention was brought to a small object that fell down from the floating piece, not getting sucked into the black hole like everything else. It hit a broken wall, jumped off it, landed on the ground and rolled all the way over to the Darkside's right feet. As Ji-Han's eyes followed it, he noticed multiple things at once:

First, the little object resembled the gray crystal he had seen earlier. Second, the Darkside was kneeling on the ground, its behind postured toward him with its right arm supporting him while its left moved to dive into the ground. Third, a sphere of Darkness was way too close for comfort.

"Yelp!" With a startled cry Ji-Han let himself fall to the side, so that the homing attack, he had forgotten about, would impact the ground. Then he picked himself up again and ran towards the enemy. When he had seen the Darkside's head so close to the ground, he had remembered that in a lot of video games, the head of a monster was its weak spot. Especially, if it was as hard to reach as this one. And while that didn't need to be the case here, he didn't have anything to lose by trying, right?

Picking up the gray crystal since it was on the way, Ji-Han quickly went through the legs towards the head. And then, using the Keyblade like a bat, he smacked it into the side of the monster's head.

{Critical!}, appeared in letters next to the impact area and Ji-Han could swear, he had never liked any notification more than this one. And there came another one right away:

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to deliver a strong blow,  
[Power Strike], has been created.}

{[Power Strike (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 15 MP  
Strikes the target with strong force.  
10% increase in critical rate.  
50% increase in attack damage.}

"Yes!" shouted Ji-Han enthusiastically and reached back, preparing another [Power Strike] to the head. He would have liked to see with [Observe] how much damage he had actually done to the guy already, but he had to get as much hits in as possible, before that guy recovered.

"[Power Strike]!" He called out, slamming down the Keyblade. And again: "[Power-] ugh!"

Ji-Han was interrupted in his attack when a dark hand came from below the ground, snatching him up and squeezed his body together with its fingers. {-10} Ji-Han felt as if his life {-10} was wringed out of him and he {-10} literally heard his HP going down {-10}, accompanied by constant messages. {-10} Yet, he couldn't do anything {-10}, as he was completely restrained {-10} and no amount of struggle {-10} could get him out of this vice grip. {-10}

Ji-Han felt weak and helpless.

Was that the end? {-10} Would he die just like that? {-10} After all he had done to defeat the monster {-10}, he could now do nothing more than to await the end? {-10}

{Warning! HP reached critical 20 %.}

He didn't want to die!

CRACK!

Suddenly the whole island split in the middle and the whole right side was pulled upwards towards the black hole in the sky. Now it just so happened that the split was right in between the Darkside's legs. So when one side moved up and the other didn't, the monster lost its balance, falling backwards. During which it loosed the grip on Ji-Han and, with the impact on the ground, send him flying out of its hand, rolling over the floor and crashing against the remains of a wall.

For a moment Ji-Han was completely stunned, not being able to comprehend what happened. In fact, he still hadn't figured it out when his eyes fell upon the Darkside laying on its back. But seeing its head presented just like that, he stopped thinking about that. Picking himself up, he ran over to the monster as fast as he could, only one thought on his mind: To end it before it could get back up.

"[Power Strike]!" He shouted as he jumped into the air and brought the Keyblade with a golden glow. Then he brought the weapon down with all his might onto the skull of his adversary.

{Critical}, arrived the letters and, with an explosion of black smoke, the Darkside disintegrated, giving him the notification of {+10 000 EXP}.

Ji-Han let out a sight of a relief, only for another notification to appear with a PING:

{Your level went up by 2.}

Seriously? Not only did he survive, he also leveled up?! This was great!

Then an actual panel opened up, but it was different from any panel he had seen before. It was of the same brown color as an [Observe]-panel but the contents were not those of a monster, but of him himself:

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv5  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 140/300  
MP: 105/150

STR: 11 (10+1) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 9 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 11 ← (+0) →  
INT: 9 ← (+0) →  
WIS: 7 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 9 ← (+0) →

Points: 10  
Money: ₩ 3000}

The arrows next to the stats… did that mean he could increase them with the points he had?! Then he just knew what he should do:

"Strength, strength for men!" He decided as he pressed the button to the right of the Strength-Stat, only to freeze suddenly. Wait. Didn't something like that happen before? Yes, he remembered, in his dream he had thought the same thing, choosing the sword without thinking. Whether it was actually a good choice didn't matter, it had been a choice he couldn't take back. So, maybe he should think more about which stats to increase.

PING!

{By learning from your past mistakes,  
your WIS has increased by 1.}

And indeed, where before had been a {7} right next to his WIS-Stat, now there was an {8}. Was that his ability telling him, he was making a good decision? Still, he couldn't just wait with distributing his points since he had no idea, when the next time would be that he got a level-up.

So, what should he choose? After how close he came to death in the last battle, he really wanted to upgrade his defense. But would that have helped? The real problem had been getting caught in the first place. So he just had to be faster instead! Faster, and stronger so that he could take down his enemies more easily… maybe he should actually increase his luck? What saved him in the fight against Darkside had been the CRITs. And with [Power Strike], an attack that increased the hit-rate of them, combined with a high LUK… could be a game changer.

In the end Ji-Han decided on 5 DEX, 3 LUK and 2 STR, bringing them up to 16, 12 and 13 respectively. Then he closed the panel, assumingly accepting the changes since there wasn't an {Okay}-Button. Now, without something in his field of vision, he noticed the objects on the ground behind the former location of the panel: Two more of those gray crystals and a red liquid in a round hand-sized glass bottle.

It was the latter that made Ji-Han shout out:

"Oh. My. God. Is that what I think it is? [Observe]!"

{[Recovery Potion]  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 500 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

Oh. My. God. It was. A potion, a freaking [Recovery Potion]. He had now the ability to once regenerate his HP in battle. He actually could heal all the damage he had received in the battle with the Darkside. On the other hand, this was exactly why he hesitated to use it right now. He had 300 Max-HP and his current HP was around the half-way mark. Using up his only [Recovery Potion] who could heal 500 HP for around 150 seemed like such a waste. For all he knew, his HP would have all generated back to full by the time the next enemy showed up. Yeah, let's just use the potion if another enemy showed up and keep it for later if not.

Satisfied with this decision he pocketed the potion and did the same with the crystals. But then he realized, he still had no idea what these crystals were and took out one again to use [Observe] on it:

{[Lucid Shard]  
A gem fragment filled with essence of Void.}

A Lucid Shard, filled with the essence of Void? What was that supposed to mean? What was he supposed to do with it… wait. A drop item with a description that said nothing? He could probably use it in crafting or something. So while he had no use for it for now, he just had to wait until he got a crafting skill that could use them.

Alright. Now that that was cleared up…

Ji-Han looked around.

…what was he supposed to do now?! He took down the monster, the Heartless, shouldn't the world get restored?!

CRASH!

As if it had waited for his comment, the whole island broke asunder, the ground under his feet no exception. The pieces broke apart, tilted under him and flew up towards the black hole in the air faster than any time before, leaving him to fall down backwards and into the abyss below.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shouted Ji-Han as gravity lost its grip on him and he was going down, down and down, until he suddenly stopped.

The surprise made him lose his voice and he tried turn around to see what exactly had made him stop falling. But there wasn't anything. He was still just suspended in mid-air. Just what was holding him?!

It was then that he realize in horror that there _was_ a source of gravity near him: The giant black hole. And, after it had absorbed all the landscape, it came now after him.

"No, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Shouted Ji-Han to no avail as he collided with it and darkness took him.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And here we've got the first days of Ji-Han using The Gamer, followed by the end of the world. In canon we don't actually get to see the first few days. The story actually starts some time after, when Ji-Han got already bored with the meager aspects his ability showed, thinking that that was all there was to it. So, when it seems to go slow in the beginning; that is because it _is_. Ji-Han never showed much initiative until he first got involved with the abyss, not only realizing more aspects of his power, but also that the supernatural existed.

Thanks to the keyhole, this happened quite a lot earlier here. The fact that the keyhole changes the location depending on what the most important thing to that world is, is something I added partly because it makes sense, but mostly because how is Ji-Han supposed to be at the location of the keyhole and still meet the canon characters of a world every time? Thus the changing location and with it the earlier introduction to the Abyss, as well as the Seeker of Truth.

Also, a fun fact at the end, I actually use a randomizer for quite a lot of things of chance in this story. For example, the success rate of skills, the activation of effects and item drops, practically everything where there is a "%" added to it. I do this by using a random number generator to give me numbers between 0 and 999 and, if the generated number is lower than the possibility of the effect in a tenth of a percent plus Ji-Han's LUK-Stat, it is successful.

So when I made Ji-Han try to make [Seasoned Spinach], I rolled three times in a row over 508, making it only successful on the fourth try, where I rolled a 479. Now the real funny part comes with the monster drops. Especially with the Shadow who drops a Lucid Shard when I roll a number under 60 (69 with Ji-Han's LUK at that point). And literally the first time Ji-Han took down a Shadow, he got a _5_! Meaning he got such a critical success on one of the most basic drop items from the easiest enemy the first time he took one down. I found that fact funny enough that I decided to do something with it. Which is where the "stone" that Ji-Han tripped on came from, as well as the second Lucid Shard that he picked up. Besides the funny aspect, it also showed one of the troubles of a life with video game mechanics: Random item drops that lie around hazardously.

With that said, the next chapter we've got Traverse Town where, in my opinion, the fun is actually starting.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	3. Chapter 2: Fragmentation

**Heart of Akasha**

Chapter 2: Fragmentation

When Ji-Han woke up, he heard the steady beeping of a heart rate monitor, like those that were used in hospitals. At first he was confused as to why he would hear such a sound, then his memories of everything that happened before came to him. That was enough to let him jerk off all the sleepiness, open his eyes and jump into a sitting position. Naturally at the same time the heart rate monitor's sounds increases in pace as his pulse accelerated.

But it was that sound that calmed him down again, as it meant that he was still alive. Not only that, someone had to connect the heart rate monitor to him, so there _had_ to be other people here… wait! Don't say… he had only dreamed all of those things and nothing really happened?! Where was something to observe…

But any thoughts on using Observe on a random item were put on hold as when he looked around, he not only noticed that he wasn't in an actual hospital bed but something that more resembled a survival pod from a sci-fi movie with an open front, he also noticed a person sitting next to him on a swivel chair. A person, who had letters floating above her head, making his latest adventures not a dream.

[-ˀ?ˀ-  
LV? Akitsu]

Akitsu was a young and extremely beautiful woman with light skin, short, light brown hair and gray eyes. She wore something that he thought resembled a Japanese Kimono with a black sash. Though he did think they usually didn't come with chains around the neck and – here Ji-Han had to blush – in between her well-endowed boobs which were only partly covered by her clothing thanks to the very low V-cut.

But for all her beauty, Ji-Han was still getting unnerved by her because she just. Kept. Silently. Staring at him with that blank expression, like there was nothing to live for anymore in the world. That was completely in contrast with the bright crimson symbols on her forehead, a yin-yang symbol with a winged bird above and two tomoe or comma left and right, with the left ones mirrored.

"Ehm… hi?" Ji-Han tried and, to his surprise, she actually answered back, even in a completely neutral tone:

"Hello."

That was all.

"Okay… ehm… I am Han Ji-Han." No reaction. "Who are you?"

"Akitsu." Again with that completely neutral tone.

"…so… where am I?"

"The hospital." To be fair, she wasn't wrong. It still didn't tell him anything new.

"Then, did you took care of me? Are you a nurse?" Not that he really believed that last part considering her attire, but who knew? He certainly didn't expect to be fighting against a demonic giant with a giant hole in its chest using a giant key.

"I am watching you", she, however, offered only as an answer to his question.

"…why?"

"Because Takami told me to."

"Takami? Are they the one who took care of me?"

Akitsu took a while, but when she answered, it with a "Yes." Good. That cleared up at last something. Still…

"….where is Takami now?"

"Outside."

"Do you now when they will be back?"

"No."

That was a pity.

"Did they perhaps tell you to tell me something when I woke up?"

A pause and then:

"No."

Huh. Takami didn't? Perhaps there was no choice for him but to wait until the doctor came back.

"…Takami told me to get her when she you woke up", Akitsu suddenly continued however, making Ji-Han stare at her incredulous.

"…then, don't you want to go to her?" He asked her, earning more stares from her.

"Ah", she finally exclaimed still with that same tone of voice, "I forgot."

Then she stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ji-Han let out a sigh. Damn, she was difficult to talk to. But at last now they were getting somewhere.

Waiting for Akitsu to come back with Takami, Ji-Han had nothing better to do but to look over his surroundings in more detail. That was when he noticed another blue transparent panel in front of him. But it didn't seem to have just appeared… did he just overlook it because he went up so fast?

{You have slept for eight hours in a comfortable bed.  
Your HP and MP have been fully restored.}

"Bed" wasn't really the best word to describe what he was sitting in, but it was good to know he was back to full health. Looks like he didn't need to use the [Recovery Potion], after all. Speaking of which, where was it?!

Ji-Han looked down on himself and noticed that he didn't wear his own clothes but a white hospital gown. Did the doctor took the potion and the other drop items with his clothes when they redressed him? Hopefully. He didn't want to lose them.

Closing the panel, he now actually did look around the room. On the opposite wall where a bunch of windows, but he had difficulties making out anything outside as the lambs on the ceiling illuminated the room so much, the glass just acted as a mirror, reflecting his face back at him. Which probably meant that it was dark outside.

Next to him in a row lay more of the pots like the one's he was in, six to his left and three to his right and on the other side were ten more. All of them were closed with a dark blue yet transparent plastic-looking material but when he looked to the left, he could actually see people lying in them. And since he could see them, he could also see labels floating above their heads:

[Thousand Strings  
LV? Mitsuki]

[Impulsive Lightning Twin  
LV? Hikari]

[ˀ?ˀ  
LV? Haihane]

[LV? Kujika]

[ˀ?ˀ  
LV? Shiina]

[Avalanche Legs  
LV? Ichiya]

Interestingly, they all had a level that he couldn't see, yet with some he could see a title while others had only question marks where the title would be and one didn't have even that. However, one more thing they all had in common was a name made out of a single word. Just like Akitsu. A coincidence? Probably not. Were they all orphans used in an experiment with Akitsu the only successful one?

That was the moment that the door opened and the smell of cigarettes assaulted his nose. In the door stood another slender woman, also with short hair, but this time of a grey color, framing her black eyes. And while she didn't have such an impressive mark on her forehead like Akitsu, there was a long scar over her left eye. She also wore an actual white lab coat with a black tie over a white top and black trousers, which made her look a lot more like a professional. And above her head:

[-Sekirei Caretaker-  
Lv34 Sahashi, Takami]

Sekirei? What are Sekirei? Ah, first things first.

"Are you the one who took care of me?" He asked more out of formality than as an actual question. "Thank you very much!"

"You are welcome", she replied as she sat down next to him, Akitsu standing at attention behind her. "I am actually surprised you woke up. People who fall unconscious in Traverse Town usually don't wake up again. And you were such a picture of perfect health that I believed you to be another case."

Picture of perfect health? Oh.

"I am sorry for worrying you", apologized Ji-Han. "I just recently got a condition that lets my body heal extremely fast. So that is normal for me."

"Condition? That's pretty vague. You don't need to hide any supernatural abilities here in Traverse Town. After the destructions of our worlds, keeping any masquerade is pointless."

"Destruction of your worlds… so my world really was destroyed?"

"Yes. You are now in Traverse Town, a patchwork world made out of all the remnants of the worlds that were devoured by the Heartless. I am sorry for your loss."

Damn it! And after all that trouble he had gone through to take down the Darkside it looked like it had already been too late.

"So, what now?" He asked the doctor. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"First, the most important thing to do is to not give up hope. This is not just an empty saying, but the Heartless are beings drawn to negative emotions. If you give into despair, they will take your heart, effectively killing you and turning you into one of them. Thus it is important you do not give up hope and find something to live for. Either here in Traverse Town or with an organization traveling through the multiverse. The Leon Shop is often on the lookout for new staff and if you can use magic and are not afraid of combat, you could become a member of the TSAB. You should look around and talk to many people; to see what they do after their world got destroyed and then find your own path. If you have some medical knowledge or healing abilities, you could even work here at the hospital. It is up to you to decide."

"My decision, huh?"

He held out his hand and summoned his Keyblade, taking in its appearance as he thought on what he should do. All he had going for him was this, after all. This and [-The Gamer-]. Maybe he should join the TSAB, after all.

But his musings were interrupted by Takami's own, who was looking just as intensively at the Keyblade as he was, muttering "A key?" while staring at it.

"Ehm, is something the matter?" Ji-Han asked uncomfortable, making the woman bring her attention back to him.

"I think Genos-san from the Hero Union mentioned something about a key being important", she told him. "You should probably go talk to him. How useful is your key in battle?"

"As good as a crowbar, I suppose", he answered. "Why?"

"Because Heartless can only be defeated by supernatural abilities. And the way to the White Ant is long, so you will be meeting a lot. If you cannot defeat them, you should not be walking around alone. With 50 Munny, you can ask Yato-san to accompany you.

Munny is, what we call our local currency, by the way. It is the result of a system set up over Traverse Town by the Hero Union to transform the currencies into a single usable one. If you had any money on you when you got stranded here, it would have transformed into Munny. But since you just arrived, I would pay the cost this time."

"I guess it would be better to have some support before I know how I stack up against the Heartless here", conceded Ji-Han yet before either of the two could say or do anything else, the door was ripped open and a female voice spoke in a hurry:

"I've heard voices, is he awake…."

The newcomer stopped talking as she locked eyes with Ji-Han and the first thing Ji-Han though was 'BIG'. Which did not refer to her admittedly most impressive pair of breasts but her one giant eye with a red iris that took the space of half of her face. It was in fact so large that her light blue hair on her forehead was cut in an arc to prevent any from getting into the eye. Compared to that, her hourglass figure was only of a passing interest to him, no matter how tight the blue skirt and white blouse under her white lab coat stuck to her body.

Moreover, this one eye was now starting to fill with tears.

"You are awake!" She exclaimed, downright tearing up as she ran over to him and pulled him in a hug, smothering his face in her assets. Luckily for Ji-Han, his air supply wasn't restricted for long as she separated soon from him, to look him over from any angle.

"You are alright, aren't you?" She asked him while she did so. "You don't have any poison or deadly illnesses, where you die if you don't take medication, do you?"

"Ehm… no", he answered, making the Cyclops, for what else was a human with a single eye in the middle supposed to be, sigh in relief.

"Thank God", she exclaimed, making Takami snort.

"It was Ame-chan and Yuki-chan who found him. Don't forget to thank them, too", she commented as if there was a joke Ji-Han didn't understand.

"I didn't mean it like that", refuted the newcomer, "…but it would be appropriate in this situation."

[-Frontier Nurse-  
Lv24 Manaka, Hitomi]

That was what Ji-Han could make out over her head, now that he got the chance for it. Quite the mundane description for someone who was not human. Not to mention that she was 10 Levels lower than Takami. It looked like he really couldn't trust any of his former common sense. But to the things at hand…

"What's that about God?" Wondered Ji-Han.

"We are talking about Yato-san", clarified Takami for him, "he's a god of deliveries and was also the one who brought you here after Ame-chan and Yuki-chan found you. If you want to thank him, the best way is to make use of his services. In fact, I was going to call him so that he could accompany him to the White Ant."

"Okay", Hitomi acknowledged. "Then I am going to bring his belongings." With that she stood up and walked out of the room.

"Now that I think about it", noted Takami as she went to remove all the cables from the medical equipment stuck on him, "you might want to ask for a map while you are in the White Ant. It will not be the most detailed or current one but with how often Traverse Town changes, it is difficult to make one. Fortunately locations don't generally vanish from Traverse Town. Usually there are only new ones added whenever a world is destroyed. That said, it is best to keep to the areas shown in the map and away from any edge. I don't know how your world was, but Traverse Town is mostly flat so we actually do have an edge one can fall off."

"Seriously?" Exclaimed Ji-Han in surprise and Takami nodded. "Huh. Thanks, I will keep that in mind."

Now Hitomi came back with Ji-Han's folded clothes, as well as a small plastic bag.

"Here are your clothes and what we found in the pockets", she said, lifting the plastic bag at the second part of the sentence.

"Good", added Takami. "Then we'll wait outside until you are dressed. Come out when you want to call Yato-san."

With that the two doctors left the room, leaving him alone… with Akitsu.

"A-Aren't you going to leave, too?" Ji-Han asked her uncomfortable.

"No", she answered prompt.

"…Why?"

"I am watching the Sekirei." Sekirei?

Ji-Han followed her gaze and came upon the six filled pots. Where those unconscious people these Sekirei?

"…Then do you mind, if I change behind you?" He asked, not wanting to argue with her and, getting a positive response from her, went to do so. Even if it was still awkward to change in the same room as such a beautiful woman. Wait. Who was the one who changed him into hospital clothes in the first place?!

Deciding strongly not to think about it, he quickly finished the change, folded the extra clothes and picked up the plastic bag.

"Goodbye, then", he told Akitsu who didn't show any reaction to his words. "Thanks for watching over me."

Still no response, so Ji-Han just opened the door and went out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Thank you for the clothes", Ji-Han told Hitomi as he gave her the hospital gown, "and for taking care of me. But I guess I should be going now."

"Okay", noted Takami and… folded her hands.

"Huh, I guess I should have seen that coming", noted Ji-Han slightly bemused. Of course you would call a god by praying to it.

"That should do it", decided Takami finally. "Now we only have to wait. Any last questions before you depart?"

"Hmm…." What should he ask? Maybe he should take her earlier advice and try to find out what kind of work would await him in the hospital.

"…is taking care of newcomers all you do? And how often does that happen?"

"Taking care of people who are stranded in Traverse Town is actually pretty rare", Takami confessed. "We generally take care of injuries and sick people. Though our workload in regards to the first half did get reduced quite a lot after the arrival of our White Mage Sakoshita-chan."

"So you actually only need people to take care of illnesses", noted Ji-Han who couldn't stop a quick glance to the room behind him, which Takami and Hitomi noticed.

"Indeed", confirmed Takami with sadness in her voice. "But the people in the room behind you are not actually ill. They are Sekirei, a race of aliens that bond with humans. However, when the Ashikabi, the human they had bonded with, dies or rather, when their psychic link is broken, they cease to function. Only eight Sekirei made their way to Traverse Town and out of these eight only two managed to stay conscious. One was lucky enough to come here with her Ashikabi, the other was not able to bond in the first place."

"And that's why you were worried, I might have a similar condition", realized Ji-Han and Hitomi nodded.

"And then there was still the chance you could have a deadly illness that needed specific medication we couldn't provide. We lost some people that way."

"Hello! Thank you for calling! Fast, affordable, and reliable! Delivery God Yato, at your service!"

Ji-Han nearly yelped in surprise when suddenly a new person appeared right next to him, shouting those words. The person in question was a handsome young man with dark purple to black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a darker blue tracksuit with light blue lines along the sides of the sleeves and a small golden crown at the left side of his chest. At the bottom the tracksuit was tucked into two brown leather boots and around his neck was a neckerchief that had definitively seen better days. Its edges were ragged and its previously blue color faded into near white. Lastly, and that was the only thing that actually made him look a bit special, was a leather belt around his waist with small knife attached to it.

Still, even with that, this guy didn't really look like a god. But he did introduce himself as Yato. And for once Ji-Han had to actually take that at face-value because above the guy's head were only question marks. Unlike any other person he had seen before, not counting the truth seeker since he had been in a puppet, even the space where the name was supposed to be was filled with question marks. That was as good as any way to tell him that the person was more than he appeared.

"Sometimes you have really have the worst timing", commented Takami and Yato was taken aback.

"Huh? What? But you called for me, didn't you?!" He exclaimed downright frantic and Takami shook her head.

"I did. We were just having a serious conversation before we interrupted. No matter. I want you to take… oh, I apologize." She turned to address Ji-Han. "We have yet to introduce ourselves. I am Sahashi Takami and these are Manaka Hitomi and Yato."

"Oh, I am Han Ji-Han ", he introduced himself sheepishly, realizing he, too, had forgotten to do so before. Was that because he could see the names of other people before they did so?

"Han. Jee. Han?" Repeated Takami slowly. "I am sorry, but which part would be the surname?"

"Huh?" Ji-Han let out in confusion. "Which part...? Oh." So that was it: They didn't know the Korean naming conventions. Makes sense. Their own names sounded more Japanese, if his knowledge of anime didn't fail him and coming from another world they might not even have met a single Korean before.

"It's just the first Han that's my family name. Ji-Han is my first name. Huh, I guess that is where the comma comes in handy."

"Comma?" Inquired Hitomi curious and Ji-Han flinched. Damn, he didn't meant to say that out loud. Wait. Did it really matter? It wasn't like he had to keep his abilities secret here.

"I actually knew your names beforehand", he admitted. "It was probably why I forgot to introduce myself. I can in fact see the names of people floating above their head – or at last most people." The last part he added with a glance towards the god next to him. "There is a comma which separates the family name from the first name and I just thought that this comma might be there exactly to avoid confusions with names from different cultures."

"Seeing people's names?" Repeated Hitomi astonished. "You have an Iris?"

Iris? Something told him the Cyclops didn't meant the biological part.

"He also has enhanced healing and weapon summoning", added Takami, then addressed Ji-Han: "An Iris, short for Mystic Iris, refers to an ability that lets you see things that aren't normally visible or even there, like a filter before your eyes. It is a sub-division of Mystic Eyes, which basically include all eyes with supernatural abilities. The term Iris was introduced by Sasamori-chan who can see whether or not a person is suited for a task and comes from a world where 99 percent of children have such an Iris. Unfortunately she is the only child from her world to have made it into Traverse Town. I suspect Hitomi was thinking of introducing you to her so that she would have someone familiar to the people of her home world to talk to."

"There is still nothing against that idea?" Hitomi pointed out. "Give it a thought, okay? Just look for Chie's Apartment Building if you want to talk to her."

"I'll do", promised Ji-Han, "but for now…"

"Right", exclaimed Takami and gave Yato a small yellow orb. "Please accompany Han-kun to the White Ant and protect him from the Heartless."

"Your wish… ", Yato said as he took the orb, flicked it into the air and caught it, before holding it between the index and middle finger of a peace sign near his head, "has been heard loud and clear!"

"Yes, he does that every time he gets a request", confirmed Takami the question Ji-Han had in his mind but didn't voice.

"Once again, thank you very much for taking care of me", he instead told the two doctors. Takami just answered with a "you are welcome" while Hitomi told him to come back and visit. And with these parting words, Ji-Han left them behind, for the first time getting to actually see Traverse Town.

It was night and millions of stars hang in the clear sky, visible through the buildings of many different shapes and sizes. Yet the buildings weren't too different as they all still followed the theme of big urban city. It could have given the illusion of him still being in his home world, if it weren't for the fact that the only light came from oil lanterns and glowing orbs on a stick while the actual street lambs were dark. Curious, Ji-Han used [Observe] on one the supernatural sources of light, yielding:

{[Simple Lacrima Lantern]  
A lantern of the most simplistic design  
using a Lacrima to generate light.}

Lacrima? What was a Lacrima? Probably the crystal orb that was on top of it…

But as Ji-Han turned around, he noticed something else.

"…this doesn't look like a hospital", he commented as he took in the sights. "In fact, this looks like a school building!"

"It was a school building", confirmed Yato. "Originally. As far as I've heard, they converted it into a hospital because there wasn't yet a functional hospital the time they needed one. At the entrance there is actually still the plate saying 'Tokisadame High School'. But all that was before I got stranded in Traverse Town. You've got a better chance to ask Hitomi if you want details."

"Hitomi-Ssi?"

"Yeah, she's actually older than she looks. In fact, she's actually one of the first ten people to be stranded in Traverse Town. Or at last, one of the first ten who survived up until now."

"Do people often die here?" Ji-Han inquired nervously but Yato shook his head.

"Not anymore. In the beginning, yes, but now there are enough people for company to prevent deaths out of despair and enough of them are strong enough to stop direct attacks from Heartless. After the Leon Shop settled in, we generally only loose people to age or in the first few days after they arrived, if they can't deal with the situation. But you seem to take it all pretty well. If you were to let yourself die it would be like a suicide."

"I think the situation just hadn't had the chance to sink in", guessed Ji-Han and Yato had to concede the point.

"True, that could be. But just because something bad happened, it isn't a reason to give up! You aren't one of the first Traverse Town residents who had to do everything they could to survive. As long as it's not harming anyone else, you can practically do anything you want. So you should just try out different things and see what you like."

"Takami-Ssi said something similar", remembered Ji-Han and Yato… pouted?

"Are you telling me, you wouldn't have believed me, if Takami hadn't said anything before?" He actually pouted, making Ji-Han quickly try to placate him.

"This wasn't what I meant at all!" He proclaimed. "It is just that… the more people give you the same advice, the less likely it is to be bad advice, right?"

Yet before Yato could respond, six small black orbs appeared in front of them. But only for a second. Then they transformed into humanoid things. They were the size of a child but had body proportions not belonging to one. Their arms were incredibly thin yet their hands were incredible large and ended in red claws. Their feet were stuck in black shoots with spiral tips and their head was covered by a silver knight's helm whose tip ended in a spiral similar to these on its toes and had two more spirals painted on it in black.

Besides those, and its face, which was just a dark surface with two round yellow-glowing eyes, the whole body was covered by a dark-blue skin-tight bodysuit, which had a specific symbol on the chest-area. The symbol was black and red in color, black for the contents and red for the lines. The outline was close to a heart but for the tip which ended in a curved cross, like one of those halberd-symbols seen on flag and at the center of the heart crossed two lines who were adorned with triangles like thorns.

"Time to work!" Decided Yato and charged forward.

'FAST!' Was Ji-Han's only thought as the god moved forward faster than Ji-Han could follow, only really visible the four times he changes direction.

In the end, it had taken little more than an instant and Yato was back at Ji-Han's side and all the creatures exploded into clouds of darkness at the same time.

"That was impressive", Ji-Han had to admit and Yato beamed.

"It was, wasn't it? That just shows that I am indeed the best god in Traverse Town!"

"Are there many gods in Traverse Town?" Ji-Han inquired curious, visibly stumping the self-proclaimed best god.

"Ahem, well, three. If you count D. And Yuuko." In other words, he was the only one.

"That aside", declared Ji-Han, "would it be possible to leave one for me the next time? I'd like to see how I match up against the local enemies."

"These are just cannon fodder so I suppose it would be good if you can take them down", he agreed as they continued to walk. "But if the Guard Armor shows up, I'll take it down at once."

"Guard Armor?" Inquired Ji-Han and Yato nodded.

"Yeah, it's really annoying since it makes all the other Heartless more aggressive. And since it's a Heartless, no matter how many times we take it down, it always comes back at some point. Like I said, really annoying."

"Heartless come back?" asked Ji-Han in surprise and Yato nodded, just as four more of the heartless in armor appeared.

"Heartless are pretty much just hearts or negative emotions taking shape and attacking everyone", he explained as he took care of three of them and held up the fourth by its helmet as it tried to claw at him unsuccessfully. "They just reform after a while after being destroyed. Which reminds me, can you even destroy them? Heartless are pretty much immune to anything not supernatural, so unless you are using chi or aura or something like that, martial arts are pretty much useless on them. I've got a knife made out of demon parts but what about you? Takami said something about summoning a weapon?"

"Right", confirmed Ji-Han. "I just used this to take down little shadow-like heartless."

He sat down his bag of item drops, summoned the Keyblade and held it in front of him in a fighting stance-like position.

"Alright, let it… wait, just keep it for a bit longer. [Observe]!"

Thinking it might be a good idea to study the enemy when it was already immobile like that, Ji-Han used [Observe] on it.

{Soldier Lv4  
HP: 48/48  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Heartless that emerge from various places. They are brisk in their movements, and rush into their opponents.}

But at the same time the panel for the enemy appeared, Ji-Han's attention was brought away from it. That was because of Yato suddenly shouted:

"IS THAT A KEYBLADE?!" The god had lost is laid-back demeanor and was staring aghast at the object in Ji-Han's hand. But Ji-Han was just as surprised.

"You know what a Keyblade is?" He inquired. "Aren't you from another world?"

Yato shook his head.

"A Keyblade is so special because it is not bound to a single world", explained the god. "We do not know exactly how they are created or how they do what they do, but Keyblades are able to open and close anything. Including paths between worlds and their hearts.

You remember how I said Heartless cannot be defeated permanently? With a Keyblade you can forget that. They release the trapped heart, effectively destroying the Heartless and sending the heart to the afterlife or wherever else the heart goes if it doesn't have a body. Which takes care of the Heartless permanently. The Hero Union used a worlds-wide survey to find information on how to deal with Heartless and the Keyblade is the only thing that popped up.

But no one could actually find one. Not the TSAB, not Zelretch, not Yuuko. For it to suddenly appear randomly like that… how did you get it?"

"I don't know", admitted Ji-Han. "The Seeker of Truth just opened the keyhole, the world got reduced to the side of an island, the Darkside showed up and suddenly I got the Keyblade. I have no idea how exactly that happened."

"Hmm… I know too few things about the Keyblade to tell. Maybe that was why Takami wanted you to go meet Genos. As a member of the Hero Union he can just ask them through the BBS if he doesn't remember."

"BBS?"

"Yeah, the Hero Union has a worlds-spanning Bulletin Board System. Unfortunately it's invite-only and the one doing the inviting is the BBS itself. Good luck getting it to accept you. But it's still instant messaging to any world with a member, so it's pretty good for information gathering and sharing. So let's go and ask Genos about the Keyblade!"

"Okay!" Responded Ji-Han to his enthusiasm. "Can I still…"

Without any further ado, Yato threw the Soldier-Heartless at Ji-Han. Quickly regaining his bearing, Ji-Han swatted the enemy out of the air, sending it flying towards the ground.

"[Observe]", activated Ji-Han. {26}, huh? Barely over half…

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han attacked the downed Soldier, instantly eliminating it with the increased damage from the skill, giving him {+24 EXP}. However, unlike when Yato had eliminated the Heartless, a pink and a bit fuzzily outlined yet sill heart-shaped crystal rose from the corpse, letting it fly into the sky before it just vanished into thin air.

"…is that what you meant with releasing the hearts."

"…yeah", mumbled the god. "A bit more obvious than I expected but sure, that works. That said, let's go. I'll take this for now." The last part was directed at Ji-Han's bag of belongings, which Ji-Han approved of. Yato could take down Heartless without breaking a sweat, opposite to him, who still had to concentrate and would be hindered greatly by carrying anything.

The next time they came upon enemies, it were three Soldiers and two Shadows. Yato took quickly care of the Shadows, leaving the Soldiers for Ji-Han. Or rather, two of them. The last one went after the god on its own. An [Observe] revealed one of them to be of {Lv5} with {52 HP}. But before he could use [Observe] on the second one, the first was already upon him, scratching at his face. Ji-Han jumped away in haste and then used a [Power Strike] to knock away his foe.

To his surprise, a flashy {Critical} proclaimed the enemies fate of instant-defeat, followed by a {+31 EXP}. Right, he did have a higher critical rate with [Power Strike], didn't he?

He pushed the second Soldier back with just a normal attack and used [Observe] on it then.

{Soldier Lv5  
HP: 28/50  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Heartless that emerge from various places. They are brisk in their movements, and rush into their opponents.}

Were all the Soldiers here around that level? It certainly seemed like it. In that case the best way to deal with them would be to open with a [Power Strike] and then take them down with a normal attack if he didn't CRIT.

He avoided the swipe of the Soldier by stepping to the side and attacked its back. Unfortunately that did not give him a Critical but it was pretty easy to take down the Heartless before it had the chance to turn back around.

{+28 EXP}, good. Wait.

Ji-Han took a closer look at the place where the Soldier had been.

"That hadn't been there, had it?" Wondered Ji-Han as he activated [Observe] on the object.

{[Scrap Iron (1dm³)]  
A piece of metal that has no current use. But it can be recycled.}

PING!

{[Observe]'s Level has risen by 1.}

"The Soldier just dropped Scrap Iron and my [Observe] leveled up", noted Ji-Han. "Great!"

"Drop? Level?" Repeated Yato and Ji-Han nodded.

"Besides the Keyblade, I actually have another ability. Do you know video games? I am basically a character in one of them. Seeing names, levels and stats, getting skills, getting quests, losing HP instead of getting wounds and enemies sometimes drop items."

"…seriously?" Exclaimed Yato and Ji-Han nodded.

"Seriously."

"…Elena did say that in her world they had things like levels and stats. But I have yet to hear from anyone able to make Heartless leave objects behind."

"Huh. That's special?"

"Special? Heartless are pretty much just twisted hearts. They don't have physical bodies! Your ability is pretty much creating something from nothing!"

"Huh. So you are saying, my ability… it's actually pretty amazing?!" The last part Ji-Han said with glee at the thought that his ability was actually a lot more impressive than he first thought.

"As far as rarity goes, at last", interjected Yato. "Creating objects out of nothing after you defeat an enemy doesn't mean anything if you can't defeat it first."

"Right", Ji-Han conceded and handed the Scrap Iron over to the god, but he just stared at it confused.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He asked and now it was Ji-Han's turn to look confused at the other.

"You do have my bag, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah", Yato conceded sheepishly. "I guess your ability does not come with an inventory then?"

"It could have one", Ji-Han admitted, "but even if it did, I'd had no idea how to activate…" Wait.

"… [Inventory]."

At once a brown panel appeared in front of his eyes. It was split vertically into two areas, the right made out of a grid of dark brown squares and the left showing the silhouette of a human figure with multiple dark fields depicting different objects like a helmet, a shield, rings and bracelets. However, there were other fields that were not dark. Instead they depicted objects more clearly than the other fields, all on a light blue background. One field at his chest showed his blue t-shirt, one at his waist showed his black trousers and one at his feet his blue sneakers. At his right hand was a field with a key and below that a field with a golden globe, resembling the one hanging from his Keyblade.

Wordlessly he took the Scrap Iron from Yato in his free hand and suddenly the dark field next to the right hand of the figure was filled with a picture of the very same Scrap Iron. Then he held it towards one of the empty field on the right side. There the surface rippled and the Scrap Iron was downright absorbed into the surface, leaving his hand, as well as the left hand of the pictured person and appearing at the very same field that Ji-Han had pressed it against.

Oh. My. God. He had an inventory!

"Was that really the first time you tried that?!" Yato asked incredulous, making Ji-Han blush.

"Oh, give me a break", he told the god as he bag of spoils from him. "I had that ability for like four days in a world where the supernatural hides itself. At the beginning I thought I was hallucinating!"

Huh, so the plastic bag only took up one item slot. Looks like anything in a container stayed in that container… speaking of item slots, did he had a maximum item limit?

"You can stare at it later", Yato ripped him out of his thoughts. "Right now we've gotta get a move on!"

"Ah, right", Ji-Han acknowledged and closed the panel. "Does that mean I can't test my strength against the Heartless? I kinda wanted to see how I do against multiple enemies."

"I guess you should", conceded Yato. "How about the next time we meet them, you just go for it and I'll bail you out if it gets too much?"

"Deal."

Of course, the next time enemies appeared, it was only a single lonely Soldier. Though the [Observe] showed that it was a little bit more powerful:

{Soldier Lv8  
HP: 75/75  
MP: 24  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Heartless that emerge from various places. They are brisk in their movements, and rush into their opponents.}

Ji-Han rushed towards the Soldier and it suddenly jumped into the air. There it did multiple rolls before stretching out its right leg and smashed it down. Luckily, Ji-Han hadn't decided to just see what would happen and, as soon as the Heartless had started its acrobatics, he had jumped to the side, making the attack miss him easily and giving the perfect opportunity to get a hit in. But as he went for the second one, Yato called out:

"Behind you."

Ji-Han was already in motion and so he still hit the Soldier lightly, but as soon as he could react, he jumped away to the side. {-5} It wasn't fast enough, however, and the light damage at the first Soldier was returned in kind by a second one who scratched Ji-Han at his arm.

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han turned around to swat away the back-stabber, directly past a Shadow. Fearing for more surprises, Ji-Han quickly dashed to the right, passing a second Shadow. Once he decided, he was far away enough, he turned back and took a quick look at the situation. Two Shadows and three Soldiers. All in all, too many enemies at once to play around.

"[Power Strike]!" He used on the first Shadow coming after him, but to his surprise the Shadow did not disperse as he hit it. Instead it flew through the air. Weren't those supposed to be weaklings?!

"[Power Strike]!" This time his target was a Soldier who came clattering towards him. As in, the movements were irregular and the metal parts on the helmet clashed against each other, resulting in a clattering sound. But like the others, he too, was thrown back when hit with the skill.

"[Power Strike]!" The second shadow had reached him, yet as Ji-Han was prepared to knock it away, too, it suddenly flattened itself and slid over the ground.

"Damn it!" Cursed Ji-Han and he ran to the left again. Too many Heartless had already reached his current place and he did not want them to surround him. And he could use this opportunity to [Observe] them. Especially these surprisingly tough Shadows.

{Shadow Lv7  
HP: 1/41  
MP: 18  
Type: Pureblood-Heartless.  
A Heartless that emerges from various places. It is completely  
untouchable while hiding within the darkness.}

Okay, so it was at a higher level than the ones the Darkside had called. Wait. 1 HP?! You've gotta be kidding me! Forgetting everything else, Ji-Han made a beeline for the Shadow he had hit earlier and, ignoring the Soldier next to it, just tapped it with his Keyblade as he ran past it while it tried to claw at him, dissolving it into black particles. {+21 EXP} One down.

Ji-Han curved around and realized that the Heartless were all a bit less nimble than he was. Or rather, they had not as much initiative, often just standing around while one or two attacked. And once they attacked, they just stood around for a while. At last if they missed. It seemed as if these were indeed just small-fry.

"[Power Strike]!" He used on a Soldier from above who, unlike the Shadows, did not have a fancy evasion move and was hit right on the head, resulting in its sprawling on the round. Ji-Han used the tip of the Keyblade to pin it to the ground, quick looking around how eager the others were to attack.

Unfortunately there were still four other enemies so he couldn't take his time with the one on the ground as another Soldier went after him. Ji-Han quickly went out of the way as it jumped into the air and performed a series of kicks, which would have most likely hurt if they had connected. But as it was, Ji-Han just ignored it and went after the third Soldier with another [Power Strike], sending him down on the ground. And, seeing that the other enemies were still a bit behind him, followed up with yet another one.

That was finally enough to take it down, resulting in {+42 EXP} and another item drop.

"Sweet", exclaimed Ji-Han as he picked it up and promptly got send towards the ground by an impact against his back. {-12}

When he looked up, he saw the Shadow just landed some feet in front of him.

"Bastard!" Shouted Ji-Han as he picked himself up and swung his Keyblade at it.

"[Power Strike]", he shouted and hit true, but only with a normal attack. The signature glow was missing and the Shadow was not thrown back. Instead it just clawed at him. {-5}

"Screw you!" Ji-Han told it and attacked it again, this time destroying it. {+24 EXP} But even with that he didn't feel satisfied as he still had two Soldiers to deal with. And it seemed that [Power Strike] used MP, which meant that he couldn't use it for now.

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Thank god for small mercies.

His Keyblade in hand he waited for the first of the two last Soldier to come towards him. He easily avoided the swipe, but then the Soldier suddenly followed up with a thrust, which took Ji-Han by surprise. {-12HP} But Ji-Han pushed through the pain and hit the enemy, destroying it. {+45 EXP} One left.

The Soldier jumped into the air, spinning vertically and attacking Ji-Han with its outstretched leg. But Ji-Han went to the side and hit his enemy twice. Once before it could recover, once while it did so. Then it swiped at Ji-Han the same time he struck it. {-15 HP} {+46 EXP}

"Finally!" Exclaimed Ji-Han exhausted. "I thought it would never end."

"Want to go at it again?" Inquired Yato, making Ji-Han snort.

"Hell, no", he declared. "You can take the next ones. I am all out of MP!"

"Yeah, I guessed as much. But it seems as if running away would work if you ever got into a sticky situation. Here. You dropped these."

With that Yato held two objects towards Ji-Han. It were literally monster drops.

"I didn't even notice them dropping a Lucid Shard", he confessed as he put the item in question into the [Inventory]. And then the Scrap Iron that he dropped after getting hit by that Shadow… wasn't that thing a bit light to be iron?!

"[Observe]!"

{[Scrap Aluminum (1dm³)]  
A piece of metal that has no current use. But it can be recycled.}

Huh. It was aluminum and not iron. That explains it.

"Let's go", suggested Yato and Ji-Han agreed.

Six random encounters later, which the only interesting part being a new enemy, the Air Soldier who was like a winged version of a soldier with a brown leathery aviator cap, and they arrived at a large white building.

It was symmetrical from the front, heaving a rectangular hangar at the front with a roof slanted upwards towards the rest of the building which seemed to have the shape of a hexagon or octagon, it was a bit difficult to tell which one from the front. Nevertheless, three rows of windows went around the whole building above the space where the roof from the hangar was connected to the main building and long thin concrete constructs when in a sixty-degree angle from the mostly flat top of the building to the ground. Probably as some sort of support. And most memorable were the letters on the slanted roof of the hangar spelling {Another Logic Counter Agency}, as well as a crude picture of an ant that someone had drawn below it by hand.

"I am guessing, this is the White Ant?" Reasoned Ji-Han and Yato nodded.

"Yeah. As you can tell, this one had at some point belonged to some government agency before it got stranded in Traverse Town. Which means it's pretty sturdy so the mayor's using it as the central for Traverse Town. Genos should be here, too."

"So, do we ring the bell or do we just go in?" Inquired Ji-Han and Yato shrugged.

"I usually just go in. I also don't think the bells work. Any electricity we get our hands on goes normally to the hospital. Let's use the direct route."

"Sure", responded Ji-Han, only to yelp in surprise as Yato swooped him of his feet and into a bridal-carry.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Shouted Ji-Han embarrassed. Yet Yato didn't answer. He _jumped_.

In a single bound he has reached the top of the slanted roof and looked through the window in the middle of the lowest row. Though window was a bit of misleading as it was more like the whole wall of the room behind was made out of glass

"Lucky!" He exclaimed as he knocked against an actual window with wooden frame in the middle of the glass wall, while Ji-Han was hanging on for his life. Soon the window was opened and Ji-Han noticed a middle-aged woman with short blue hair and golden eyes, wearing a blue business suit.

"How often do I have to tell you to use the door?" She asked exasperated and Yato shrugged.

"That's what the window is for, isn't it?"

"It's an _emergency_ exit in the case of _emergencies_!" She elaborated. "Not to be used as a simple shortcut. And you even brought someone along this time?"

"The door is way too out of the way", complained Yato and he dropped Ji-Han inside. "And Takami wished for me to bring him to Genos."

"To me? What can I help with?"

Genos was, to make is short, a cyborg. He had short blond hair and a human face, except for the eyes, which were glowing in a mechanical yellow in a black sclera. His arms and neck were clearly made out of black-colored metal, too, but the rest was covered by a white sleeveless sweater and his black trousers and sneakers. And above his head were all question marks with the exception of his name.

This stood in strong contrast to the woman who had opened the window for them:

[-Traverse Town Secretary-  
Lv12 Sagiri, Mikage]

But there was someone else in the room who Ji-Han could not anything from besides the name:

[ˀ?ˀ  
-ˀ?ˀ-  
Lv? Hitoyoshi, Zenkichi]

Zenkichi was a man of middle age whose blond hair was barely an inch long and the first wrinkles started to appear around his blue eyes. But Ji-Han himself had no idea they were there as they completely blended in with the many scars the man had crisscrossing over his face and his arms. With the black suit and tie, as well as the sheathed katana decorated with goldfishes leaning on the table next to him, he looked like he belonged to some mafia.

Speaking of the table, he and Genos were sitting on opposite sites on a wooden conference table with each of them having sheets of paper lying in front of them. The place next to Zenkichi had also such sheets of paper and it soon became as to why as it was where Mikage sat down while Ji-Han was studying the people.

"We were just going over the funds Traverse Town gets from the Hero Union", explained Mikage. "But please, introduce us, if you belief it to be more important."

"Aha", Yato exclaimed, "I, the Yatogami, am proud to tell you that your prayers have been answered! For this boy next to me, Han Ji-Han, is the owner of a real Keyblade!"

"A Keyblade?" Zenkichi repeated and studied Ji-Han with interest, making the Gamer fidget uncomfortable, before he turned back to Genos. "I belief the Hero Union had information on how it can defeat Heartless permanently?"

"I had actually assembled a dossier on the facts and speculations the Hero Union had on the Keyblade", noted Mikage. "Please wait while I get it."

With that the secretary stood up and left the room, leaving the males behind.

"Can we see the Keyblade?" Genos asked and Ji-Han held out his hand, summoning the special weapon.

"That is a unique visual effect", commented Genos on the digital letters and numbers that always appeared when Ji-Han summoned his Keyblade. "And my scanners cannot determine the material it is made of. Have you used it against Heatless, yet?"

"Yep. And when he defeats an Emblem-Heartless, there literally is a heart-shaped crystal flying away."

"Speaking of", interrupted Ji-Han, "why does that only happen with Emblem-Heartless? Why not with Pureblood? Shouldn't all Heartless release hearts?"

"That is because only Emblem-Heartless are full hearts", explained Zenkichi "Pureblood-Heartless just come from the darkness, the negative emotions, inside people's hearts. There is no trapped heart to release."

"Doesn't that mean that the Keyblade is as good as any other weapon when dealing with Pureblood-Heartless", wondered Ji-Han and Yato shrugged.

"Could be", he admitted. "But it could also be that it disperses the negative emotions for good while other weapons just bring them out of order temporarily. Unfortunately there is no way to check."

"But defeating Heartless is not the only thing the Keyblade is capable of", interjected Genos. The reason we even need the dossier is because there are so many abilities attributed to the Keyblade."

"Oi, what exactly did this [Observe] of yours tells you when you use it on the Keyblade?" Yato asked. "If it's your own ability, so you should already have gotten something, right?"

"Oh", voiced Ji-Han sheepishly. "I haven't thought of that. [Observe]."

{[Gaia Key]  
The Base-Form of the Gamer's Keyblade.  
Decreases damage taken by 50% when in clearly  
disadvantageous situations.}

"No good", commented Ji-Han. "It just tells me what kind of Keyblade I have, not what a Keyblade is. But Base-Form? Sounds like I can upgrade it."

"Transformation was one of the abilities I remember hearing about", noted Genos. "But I have doubt all of them are correct. One mentioned the Keyblade transforming into a full spaceship."

"I am back", announced Mikage as she came in with the dossier in hand. "According to our research, the Keyblade is, as the name would suggest, a weapon in the general shape of a key." She took a look at Ji-Han's Keyblade. "The specific details differ from source to source but that just supports the theory that Keyblades are weapons connected to the owner's heart, taking a shape specific to the user and are unable to be used by anyone else. Would you like to try?"

The last part she addressed to Yato who shook his head.

"I'll pass. We have no idea how a Keyblade would punish someone else trying to use it", he explained. "For all we know it could turn you into a cat or something."

"I doubt that exact thing would happen but you do have a point", conceded Zenkichi.

"Though I can at last let go of it", interjected Ji-Han who, out of curiosity, had put it down on the table and let go of its handle. "So it's not like a cursed item."

But as he went to grab it again, it suddenly vanished in flash of digital letters and reappeared in Ji-Han's hand with the same visual effect.

"It seems to be a personal weapon, after all", commented Mikage as she looked down on the dossier, again. "The abilities attributed to the Keyblade fall generally into two categories: Effecting locks and effecting hearts. Under 'Effecting Locks' fall all mentions of the Keyblade opening or closing anything imaginable, from simple doors and treasure chests to demon lord-suppressing seals and pathways between worlds and even the Akashic Records themselves. It is also said that nothing opened with the Keyblade can be closed without one and vice-versa."

"Let's try it out", suggested Yato enthusiastically. "We do have a door right there."

"Go ahead", told Genos Ji-Han who went over to the door of the office. Now, how should he got about it?

"Open Sesame", he said as he pointed the Key towards the door, but nothing happened.

"Maybe you should knock first", suggested Yato, earning him a stern look from Mikage but Zenkichi placated her.

"There is nothing wrong with trying", he reasoned, so Ji-Han did just that, hitting the door with the Keyblade twice in a row. This actually did the trick and the door swung open all by itself.

"Huh, that actually works", noted Yato and Ji-Han tipped twice against the doorframe, making it close again.

"But I can still open it", realized Yato, after he had tried just that and Ji-Han shrugged.

"Maybe I'll have to level-up my [Keyblade Mastery] for that", he guessed. "It is currently stuck at level 1."

"Level?" Inquired Genos and Ji-Han nodded.

"Right, I've got the body of a video game character, so everything is expressed in stats and levels. It's possible that I get more of the Keyblade's abilities once I used it more."

"I see", exclaimed Mikage. "It is possible that the abilities witnessed have been used by people who have mastered their Keyblades. In that case we have to figure out which are those granted just by the ownership of a Keyblade. Effecting locks seems to be available from the start at last, even if only in its crudest form.

Leaving that aside for now, the second set of abilities, effecting hearts, shows more variety. The most common is the ability to defeat Heartless even if some sources say that it can be used to kill anything, even things that are normally immortal."

"Not it!" Interjected Yato instantly, making Zenkichi chuckle while Mikage send the god yet another disapproving glare.

"It has already been observed releasing the hearts of Emblem-Heartless", added Genos to continue the conversation. "At last that part seems to be true. Whether it works on things still having a body or not is a different matter. And not something we should try."

"Agreed", Mikage continued. "The second ability is to be able to connect to a world's heart, effectively talking to it."

"Excuse me", interrupted Ji-Han, "do you mean, without the keyhole? Because I can't remember the Seeker of Truth having a Keyblade when he tried to get to the Heart of the World."

"Everybody can reach the Heart of the World if they can find the keyhole", explained Zenkichi. "The keyhole is the connection of the Heart to the outside, after all. But if that allows them to talk to the world is a different matter. Additionally, the only times I have heard of the keyhole so far was when Heartless reached through it to devour the world. As Heartless are always looking to devour strong hearts to add to their ranks, finding the hearts of the worlds is one of their main goals."

"So when the Seeker of Truth opened the keyhole, he opened the way for the Heartless", mused Ji-Han. Wait. Open?

"Ehm, when you were talking about opening and closing stuff, do the keyholes count, too?"

"As a matter of fact, the keyholes are mentioned as something the Keyblade can open and close", Mikage confirmed with a look at her documents. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just", began Ji-Han, "if the keyhole is the only connection to the heart and the Heartless destroy a world by devouring its heart and something locked with a Keyblade can only be opened with a Keyblade, wouldn't locking the keyhole with the Keyblade protect a world from the Heartless forever?"

Silence filled the room as the people processed Ji-Han's line of reasoning.

"Theoretically it would", agreed Genos. "And any world where you would close the Keyhole that way would be save from the Heartless. There are just too many worlds out there to save all of them. Unless you find something like a central keyhole for all worlds, this is just not feasible."

"Actually, it could work", contradicted Yato. "It takes a long time for the Heartless to reach the keyhole. We get newcomers like, what? Once every two months? Not to mention, saving even one world would save more often than not billions of lives. Heck, why not go all the way and find out where the hearts of the devoured world are? They are pretty much just big Heartless, right? With the Keyblade he can set their hearts free, too and maybe even restore them!"

"Would that work?" Genos asked the other two who were deep in thought.

"It is all just hypothetically", admitted Zenkichi, "but with the current information we have, there is no reason to think it shouldn't."

"Under the condition that he learns how to permanently close the Keyholes", appended Mikage. "But if he does, he could at last prevent some worlds from being devoured."

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

Huh? Two quests at the same time?

{**Quest Alert**

World Graveyard: The Hearts of Lost Worlds

The hearts of the worlds devoured by the Heartless have to go somewhere.

Find the location of the hearts and restore all the worlds to their original state.

Completion Award: +5 Levels.  
You will be known as savior of worlds by anyone connected to Traverse Town even indirectly.

Completion Failure:  
The worlds will stay lost.  
Decreased reputation with the members of the Hero Union.}

{**Quest Alert**

Central Keyhole: The One Keyhole to Close them All

Closing the hearts of each world one at a time is just impossible.

Find the keyhole for all worlds and close it.

Completion Award: +5 Levels.  
You will be known as savior of worlds by anyone connected to Traverse Town even indirectly.

Completion Failure:  
The Heartless will continue to devour worlds.  
Decreased reputation with the members of the Hero Union.}

Holy shit, five levels each?! The homework ones had barely gotten more than a defeated enemy yet here he got downright levels? To be fair, it was saving multiple worlds while saving even one was generally an endgame goal.

"Oi, I've just got these things, the central keyhole and restoring the worlds as quests", voiced Ji-Han. "Looks like that's what I am going to do!"

"Then you might want to get some training in", commented Yato skeptically. "Currently you don't look like you could save one world, yet all of them."

"You do not have to do it, if you do not want to", interjected Zenkichi. "Saying the journey will be dangerous is not just idle talk. Since Traverse Town is just the remnants of other worlds, it has no heart for the Heartless to go after, making less Heartless arrive in Traverse Town. Not to mention all the strong people who call Traverse Town their home. Just because you have the Keyblade, does not mean you have to risk your life if you are not committed to it."

"Na, I'll do it", decided Ji-Han. "Having all this power and not using it? I'd go crazy. Besides, saving all the worlds, means saving my own world, too."

Ji-Han looked down at his Keyblade and clenched it tightly.

"I was there, when the Keyhole got opened, you know", he reminisced. "If I had just known any of this beforehand, I could have sealed it away then and there. But I didn't, so the world got destroyed while I got stranded here. My family and friends included. And I want them back. So if there is the possibility of reclaiming my world, I will take it!"

With that he pushed {YES} twice.

"Nice speech there", noted Yato. "I approve."

PING!

Huh. Another panel?

{Through acceptance of a quest fit for a hero you have gained  
the Perk [Hero Union – Active Hero].}

{[Hero Union – Active Hero]  
Declares the owner as an active hero under the definition of the Hero Union BBS,  
making him a member and allowing him to use all of its function.}

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

Traverse Town's gotta be one of my favorite worlds in this story. I had a lot of fun looking for characters to fill roles in Traverse Town and then decide on a timeline, when which world and their people got added to Traverse Town. Though I had to be careful which characters I added, since everyone is a potential party member, unless they have a reason why they can't or don't want to travel with him.

Which was one of the reasons I've decided to make people age in Traverse Town. This way I can have characters who wouldn't have minded joining Ji-Han in their youth but are at that moment in the story too old for that. On the other hand, I decided to make people in Traverse Town not need to eat or drink to prevent Ji-Han from wasting even more time to get nourishments for his companions (he himself doesn't need to do any of that period thanks to being the Gamer) before he can finally start to travel.

Now, with the general stuff out of the way, let's talk about the people and why they are in Traverse Town:

Akitsu and the Sekirei in general. As a Sekirei gets "terminated" when their Ashikabi does, I thought it would happen the same if the Ashikabi is a world away, their connection broken this way. And since the surviving the destruction of a world by Heartless is here (technically) random, only Akitsu as a Scrapped Number wouldn't have any risk and would, in my opinion, decide to watch over those that fell into a coma. Takami is meanwhile the expert of Sekirei physiology, allowing them to survive even in this condition.

The shortly mentioned wolf children Ame and Yuki are mostly just characters to flesh out Traverse Town with people you don't expect to join Ji-Han. However, they are also people who are technically better off in Traverse Town, not having to hide their inhuman traits.

Hitomi-Sensei was one of the first with medical knowledge to survive Traverse Town, even if only as a school nurse. But the fact with "random" survivors is that you don't always get people who are perfect at the job needed afterwards. I've also chosen Hitomi-Sensei out of the many school nurses in anime and manga, because she adds more inhuman characters to Traverse Town. The people who died on her because of missing healthcare technologies are by the way inmates from Deadman Wonderland, who died because they didn't had the necessary antidote to the poison in their systems.

Yato is a powerful character who needs to be believed in to survive. That means he's good as a mentor while in the "tutorial level" Traverse Town but can't leave it out of fear of accidentally getting left alone in a world nobody knows him, spelling his doom.

Zenkichi I've chosen, when I wanted a strong character who would normally be screwed if he was stranded in Traverse Town because he himself had no supernatural abilities, but got lucky by finding a supernatural "weapon" and managed to hold on while everyone else didn't. Which made him the de-facto leader of Traverse Town as he was the first survivor, when multiverse-traveling people did not even knew of its existence. A role he continued to fulfill to this point.

Mikage is just one of the first people with experience being a secretary I could think of. She's also not the only named person from her world, though any skills in card games aren't as important when their only enemy is the Heartless.

Genos is the Traverse Town representative of the Hero Union from Hero Union BBS. He already was a hero in his world and should have qualities allowing him to gain the approval of the BBS. The Hero Union BBS themselves would take on a role later in multiple instances.

On that note, to emphasize the fact that Keyblades are legendary weapons, I had them work with incomplete and unconfirmed information, as well as conclusions from those information. This also plays into the fact that nobody tells Ji-Han that he has to go out and save the world. Not only do they not know if it is even possible, even with the Keyblade, Ji-Han is still an untrained civilian who could die easily fighting against the Heartless or the denizens of other worlds. Not that any Gamer would say "no" in this situation.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	4. Chapter 3: Space-Travel for Dummies

**Heart of Akasha**

Chapter 3: Space-Travel for Dummies

{Through acceptance of a quest fit for a hero you have gained  
the Perk [Hero Union – Active Hero].}

{[Hero Union – Active Hero]  
Declares the owner as an active hero under the definition of the Hero Union BBS,  
making him a member and allowing him to use all of its function.}

"Would you look at that", exclaimed Ji-Han giddily. "I've just become a member of the Hero Union."

"Say what?!" Yato was the only one who made his surprise known vocally while the other three… took on grim expressions?

"Isn't this good?" Wondered Ji-Han and Genos shook his head.

"Being a member of the Hero Union gives one a lot of advantages, this is true. It allows you to converse with any other member regardless of distance, even in other worlds. And many active and retired heroes are glad to share their experiences and answer your questions or just give an ear if you want to vent your frustration.

However, the Hero Union has its own set of rules. And the most important one is, not to interfere in other heroes' quests. This includes active support. We can give you all the advice we want, but we cannot send a retired hero with you to help you fight your battles or procure a means of transport for you. That is something you now have to gather on your own! The most we can do is to end your quest and bring you to safety if it becomes too unreasonable. For example, if the people who gave the hero a quest plan to kill him after he has finished it or if they bullied the hero so much that he would rather die than defeat the demon lord. But other than that our hands are tied."

"Wha- for real?!" Ji-Han was shocked. He hadn't thought about it before, but having strong allies would have made things easier. And he even had to find a way to travel to the other worlds on his own? Who made these rules?!

"Can't you make an exception for him?" Yato tried to reason. "We are talking about the fate of multiple worlds here."

But Genos stayed firm.

"He was acknowledged by the BBS as a hero. Making another hero help him actively would make it just a feat of that hero and Ji-Han a VIP to escort, invalidating the choice of the BBS. That is something we cannot do."

"That sucks", was Yato's opinion and Ji-Han had to agree. He had always thought being a hero would be something great but it seemed it was mainly difficult.

Genos seemed to notice his disappointment as he continued:

"Naturally I will still answer any question you might have and if in your travels come across trouble that would take you too far from your quest, the Hero Union will most likely be able to take over. In fact, I will give you a written list of all facts the Hero Union has assembled on the Keyblade."

"That won't be necessary", interjected Mikage. "I will prepare a copy of this dossier."

"Very well", commented Genos. "And while I cannot give you a means of transportation, I can tell you the ways in which you can procure one for yourself if you want to."

"Sure", Ji-Han agreed. "What do you got?"

"Please take a seat first, if you want. There is no need for you to stand the whole explanation."

"Oh, right." Why hadn't he done that already? Oh, because he was showing off his Keyblade.

Ji-Han dismissed the Keyblade and took a seat next to Zenkichi. Meanwhile Yato went over to the window, instead.

"Sorry, it's been fun and all, but work is calling", he told them. "Still, once you are finished and want another escort, just pray to me and I'll be there soon. Or if you want anything else, really. For 50 Munny I'll fulfill your wish! Just don't ask me for a piece of my hair or any other body part."

Ji-Han couldn't help but chuckle. A piece of his hair?

"Did someone actually do that?" He asked and Yato nodded.

"Hadn't even been that long ago. Okay, I'm off!"

With that he opened the window and jumped out of it, making Mikage shake her head in exasperation as she stood up to close it.

Genos, meanwhile, began his explanation.

"There are four possible ways for you to travel the multiverse. Technically there are five but the Leon Shop has too limited reach for your goals. But if you are ever short on money, you can decide to work for them.

Nevertheless, the first method for inter-dimensional travel would be to become a member of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, TSAB. The TSAB is a military organization tasked with protection of worlds and securing dangerous supernatural artifacts. Your goal of saving all the worlds, is something the TSAB supports. You would also receive first class-training, helping you in your quest.

The only downside to becoming a member of the TSAB is, that you will be expected to follow orders from your superiors who, unless you climb far enough in the ranks, will decide when to use the Keyblade and when not. But as the TSAB is an organization where your actual capabilities matter the most, those higher ranked than you would also generally have greater experience and ability to judge than you.

The second method would be to commission a new spaceship at Franky's House. In fact, Sagiri-san has an associate working there, so it would be easy to introduce you. The greatest problem with this method would be to procure the financial means and/or materials for a new spaceship. You would most likely have to borrow credit.

Thirdly, you could ask Yuuko for help. Yuuko is a powerful being capable of traveling between worlds without the need for a spaceship. The greatest problem with asking Yuuko for help would be to find Yuuko, as she can only be found when the seeker is truly in need for her aid. Additionally, her services always come with a cost that is equal to the service provided. She will always charge for something you will agree to be worth the cost, but you can never predict what she will ask for in return beforehand.

The last possibility is Zelretch. Like Yuuko, Zelretch is a powerful being capable of traveling between worlds but unlike her, who has to be found, he is the one who will find you. Additionally he isn't bound by the rules of equivalent exchange like Yuuko, so whatever he charges you will depend on how much he likes you. He also plays nasty pranks on people who anger him that can drive his victims insane. Luckily it takes a lot to anger him and he also has, assumingly, an interest in saving worlds from destruction and never goes back on a deal he made or coerces people into making deals. The greatest problem in dealing with Zelretch is the uncertainties. You never know, what will happen.

To your luck, you actually have an advantage over other people when making a deal with Zelretch: Your Keyblade. Zelretch has shown interest in objects and abilities able to reach other worlds and the Keyblade is rumored to be one of them. You should be able to at last grasp his attention and strike a deal with him. But what exactly that deal would entail, is an uncertainty."

So it was like that… from what Genos said it sounded like his best bet would be to look what deal he could get from Zelretch and then, if it was too much, go to the TSAB. Even if he said that he'd agree that whatever Yuuko asked for would be worth the price, he didn't really have anything except for one Potion and some Vendor Trash. Anything except his ability. And if Yuuko really was as powerful as she sounded, she might be able to take his Gamer. He'd rather become a member of the TSAB than that.

Still… becoming part of a military and having to listen to some other guy telling him what to do? That went against his Gamer-spirit. Unfortunately getting the money for a new spaceship would most likely take too long. The meager monster drops wouldn't be enough to pay for something like that. Unless… what if he became a bounty hunter for the TSAB? As in, letting them drop him of at any Heartless they specifically wanted gone for good and get paid for its destruction? Since those requests would most likely come in the form of boss monsters, he would also get better drops than usual. Naturally, that also meant he had to get stronger but that was something that would help him no matter what he planned to do.

"Alright", decided Ji-Han. "Before I even get to go to other worlds, I've got to get strong enough to deal with the Heartless in this one. And I should get some funds, too. Maybe some armor, potions and maybe some spells. Oh, right, Takami said you had a map of Traverse Town?"

"Yes, here." Mikage quickly walked over to a cupboard and took something out of it, which was presumably the map. "And here is also a list of currently-available jobs. The blue marked ones are jobs that are constantly available and can be done as often as you want while the red ones are single-instance only and might have already been completed or become obsolete by the time you ask for them."

"Ah, thanks, that's a big help."

He took the piece of paper, an immediately noticed he couldn't read any of it.

"Huh? Do you have a special written language?" He thus asked, making Mikage apologize.

"I am sorry, I forgot to ask what languages you can read before giving you those items", she exclaimed, confusing Ji-Han.

"But aren't you talking… you aren't, are you?"

"As a fusion of multiple worlds, Traverse Town somehow ended up translating any spoken words automatically", Mikage explained. "Unfortunately, this does not extent to writings. The map compensates for with pictures but the job list does naturally not work this way. What languages can you read?" As she said this, she began moving towards the cupboard, probably in search of a job list in a fitting language.

"Korean… and English."

"Then please take this and tell us if you can read it or if your world's version of English is different."

One look at the list, and he could disperse her worries. He could read this. So, he looked over the possible tasks. They seemed to be all over the place. From cleaning, cooking – What the hell was a matsusaka? – repairing and taking over at various places as a substitute like the orphanage or something called a "Jack o'Lantern-field" to mining and exploration. There also seemed to be something like challenges, where you god paid more the better you were like a chess match or writing a story. Still, like any other task able to be done multiple times, the challenges paid less well than those jobs that were only available once.

The one exception to the rule was exploration, which was marked blue but paid just as well. The problem, however, was that it went into uncharted territory, meaning areas where there was no population except for monsters and Heartless. So the higher pay came was because of the danger. Still…

"….shouldn't this one be already finished?" He asked as he pointed towards the job in question. "With how much this pays, shouldn't one of the stronger guys have easily finished it by now?"

Suddenly there appeared a question mark above the list and in front of him the quest alert opened:

{**Quest Alert**

Unknown Frontier: Mountains in the Dayless Town

As a world created from the fragments of other world, Traverse Town does have regions beside the urban.

Explore and map the mountain regions of Traverse Town.

Bonus Objective:  
Capture monsters in the region and bring them to Count D.

Completion Award: +100 000 EXP and +2000 EXP for every day spend actively exploring  
A payment of 10 000 Munny.  
The title [Explorer].  
Increased reputation with the people of Traverse Town.

Bonus Award:  
?

Completion Failure: +1000 EXP for every day spend actively exploring  
Decreased reputation with the people in Traverse Town.}

"Ah, the exploration quest", noted Zenkichi not noticing Ji-Han's bewilderment at the quest. "Truth be told, most residents of Traverse Town, or at last those strong enough, have already found a place. A job that they enjoy doing and where people depend on them. And with how much Traverse Town is changing every time a world gets devoured, any information gathered can easily become outdated. Even if you get paid for it, it can become tedious doing work that ends up becoming pointless. I, personally, like doing it as some form of vacation."

"Interesting", commented Ji-Han. He had no trouble believing it. Zenkichi seemed strong enough for it to be like a walk in the park, after all. Still, even if he was too weak to accept it, just the quest alert alone gave him great information. Now he knew that some quests came with bonus objectives, that sometimes the rewards would not show and that he could get titles. Especially the last one was interesting as he had always assumed that since he had [-The Gamer-] flying above his own head, he didn't realize he could get another title. Or wait, [-The Gamer-] was his class, wasn't it? So people could have both a class and a title.

Nevertheless, he pressed {NO} and took a look at the other tasks.

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to read a new language,  
[English Reading], has been created.}

{[English Reading (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
The ability to understand written words and sentences in the English language.  
To better communicate with their peers, humans created languages.  
Finding the correct meaning to a sentence takes an  
average of 0.5 seconds for every INT-Check.}

Oh, right, he'd get skills like that, too, didn't he? Such a mundane skill seemed a lot out of place after all the combat that he had since the day before. Even if his lessons were coming in handy right now.

Still, no matter if he read through the list often enough to level up his skill twice, there wasn't really anything that took his fancy.

"Aren't there any rewards for killing Heartless?" He asked.

The most important thing was getting stronger and the second, getting money. Still, why not combine both?

But it wasn't to be.

"Heartless don't leave anything behind that could be used as proof for defeating them", Zenkichi explained. "And it is in everyone's interest in taking care of any Heartless you come across. The only Heartless who has a bounty is the Guard Armor. And considering how you can take care of it permanently, we could pay you and your party ten times the normal amount, as long as you use the Keyblade to strike it down. In fact, we would prefer it."

And again it came down to him needing to become stronger first. Maybe he should call Yato and ask him for help with some power leveling. Now, if only he knew how much MP he had so that he could tell if and how many [Power Strike] he could use… wait. Inventory worked, didn't it? That meant…

"[Status Window]!" Ji-Han called out and at once, a brown panel opened in front of him:

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv5  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 256/300  
MP: 92/150

STR: 11 (10+1) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 9 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 11 ← (+0) →  
INT: 9 ← (+0) →  
WIS: 7 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 9 ← (+0) →

Points: 10  
Munny: 2 950}

Oh, it worked. And he had nearly 100 MP back! That meant that his MP was regenerating on its own! But how fast and how much did a [Power Strike] take?

He tipped at the {MP} and a small blue panel showed up next to it depicting:

{Mana Recovery: 1 MP / MIN}

Only 1 MP per minute?! Just how long ago did he fought the Heartless?! With that MP-Recovery he really needed to be able to take them down without [Power Strike].

Speaking of…

"[Skills]?"

Without closing the first one, another brown panel showed up. It looked a lot like the inventory-part of the [Inventory], with a grid of squares where some were filled with little cartoonish pictures.

The first showed a knife cutting into some tofu over a light blue background that went gradually to white the closer it got to the center. The second showed an ear with a "hello" written in Latin letters while the background-color was yellow. The third showed a hand holding a club surrounded by green aura over an orange background, the forth looking exactly the same with the exception that instead of a club the hand was holding a giant key. The fifth was just a close-up shot of a brown eye. The sixth showed a purple humanlike figure covering before a fist hitting him while the background was red with a yellow star in the center that looked like a hit-symbol in a comic. And the last one was just like the second one, only that the ear had been replaced with an eye.

In Ji-Han's mind there was no doubt which picture represented which skill and he tipped on the sixth one, opening a red panel:

{[Power Strike (active) Lv1 EXP: 43.3%]  
Cost: 15 MP  
Strikes the target with strong force.  
10% increase in critical rate.  
50% increase in attack damage.}

Right, it was 15 MP. That meant if he got full MP, he could use exactly 10 of them before he had to recover his MP. And as far as the experience went, he was nearly halfway through. But it still would be good to know, just how much he actually got with each use. 43.3, for now, he had to remember that.

Ji-Han closed the [Power Strike] and opened the [Blunt Weapon Mastery], which he knew had leveled-up just recently:

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery (passive) Lv2 EXP: 17.7%]  
Allows the user to freely handle blunt weapons.  
15% increase in attack damage with blunt weapons.  
6.5% increase in attack speed with blunt weapons.}

[Blunt Weapon Mastery] really was a great ability. It gave him higher attack damage, if he used a normal attack and if he used a [Power Strike]. And as a passive ability, it didn't need any MP and was always active! He really should level that one up a little more.

Ji-Han held out his hand and summoned his Keyblade, staring intensively at the number near the EXP. He had to figure out, whether or not just summoning the Keyblade increased his experience.

Unfortunately, nothing seemed to happen, so he tried the same with [Keyblade Mastery].

{[Keyblade Mastery (passive) Lv1 EXP: 80.8%]  
Allows the user to handle the different techniques of a Keyblade.  
1% increase in attack damage of skills used with the Keyblade.}

But even here nothing changed when he was just holding the Keyblade. Did he had to use them in combat, after all?

He stood up and walked towards the door.

Genos, who had noticed Ji-Han thinking about things and had left him to his own devices while he dealt with his own paperwork, now looked at what Ji-Han was doing. The Gamer in question used the tip of the Keyblade to knock twice against the door. But he wasn't looking at the door. He was looking at the panel only he could see. And, to his delight, the EXP changed from {80.8} to {81.1}. Closing the door, he got {81.3}. So he got around 0.2 to 0.3 every time he used the Keyblade on the door. Which meant… he got to do that around 100 more times for a level-up?! No, for that the percentage was too high. He had only used the Keyblade on the door four times, so it wouldn't have even be 2 percent if that was the case. It probably leveled up in combat, too.

Ji-Han closed all the panels, except for the status window where the MP had now gone up to {93} while his HP was still stuck at {256}. Tipping at the {HP}, he got the message he feared:

{Health Recovery: 0 HP / MIN}

His HP wasn't regeneration on its own. And so far, the only ways he knew how to recover HP were sleep and the [Recovery Potion]. Not things that came easily.

"Excuse me", Ji-Han addressed the cyborg. "Is there a way to buy potions that heal wounds?"

"The Leon Shop should have some", answered Genos. "But there are generally expensive. The cheapest one goes for 300 000 Munny, I believe."

"300 000?!" Shouted Ji-Han in shock. Holy shit. Since 1 Won was of a bit lower value than 1 Munny, it would be like a little bit more than 300 000 won, right? That's like a month of groceries, if he was stingy. Maybe that's the reason the Darkside had otherwise only dropped Lucid Shards. The potion was freaking expensive!

"Yes, healing potions are expensive. They are valuable on their own _and_ have to be imported, after all. If you wish for healing, it is generally better to go to the hospital and ask Sakoshita Yanagi. She only charges 1000 Munny for each time."

It still looked like it was better to not get hit in the first place. It seemed like investing points in DEX had been a good choice, after all. He was pretty much able to run circles around any of the Heartless in Traverse Town, so far.

As if it had heard him, suddenly a Shadow appeared next to him in the room, preparing to attack him. Ji-Han was too surprised to react in time, but as the Heartless jumped towards him, it suddenly dispersed into black particles. And the only hint as to why, was the flash of light that came from Zenkichi and how he put the sheathed katana back against the table. Yet Zenkichi had not even looked up from his papers, though he had put his hand on his and Mikage's papers, as if to prevent them from flying away by a sudden guest of wind. A sudden gust of wind that he was the origin of.

"Does that happen often?" Exclaimed Ji-Han and Mikage nodded.

"Just because you are within a building, does not mean the Heartless will not appear. But they will be generally fewer in numbers. Few enough that so far not a single person has been murdered in their sleep."

"That's reassuring, I guess", responded Ji-Han, not sounding particularly sure of that. Wait.

"So, in other words, if you want to train to fight against Heartless, you better do it in a building?"

"That depends on your fighting style", elaborated Genos. "I use too many high-explosive attacks to use this as a valid strategy and one specializes in dodging might find themselves against a wall. Other than that, it is true that there are more Heartless, the more open the space and the other way around. Do you want to go around the White Ant and fight the Heartless appearing inside?"

"Yeah, if it's alright with you…"

"Go ahead", Zenkichi told him. "You do not live in Traverse Town as long as I and do not develop the ability to work in any kind of circumstances. There should be no noise you can make that would disturb us."

"Alright. Then I'll be off!"

"Please do not forget to come back later for the map, the job list and the dossier on the Keyblade's abilities", Mikage reminded him. "I should be finished with the copy by the time you come back."

"Alright. Thanks. Though I'll take others with me right now. [Inventory]."

Having said that, he took the map and job list and put both of them into the inventory.

"You have an inventory?" Zenkichi exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't realize that also fell under your abilities of a video game character. Is there a weight limit on it?"

"Not as far as I can tell", answered Ji-Han. "But there might be a limit on how many different items I can carry. The same item just stacks in a single field."

"Interesting", noted Zenkichi. "Would you be willing to transport many goods from one place to another?"

"Maybe", responded Ji-Han. "I do am still thinking of what jobs to do or not. But if you got one, you can give me the details and I'll think about it."

Hitoyoshi nodded and so he went out of the door with that – making sure to use his Keyblade to open and close it for the little extra EXP and then went to the left, seeing as the corridor of white walls went sideways compared to the room he was in.

* * *

"Alright. Let's go grinding!"

30 Minutes later and he found himself on the opposite side of the White Ant, staring at the dimly lit city below him. The seat of the mayor of Traverse Town had a lot of unused rooms, the dust being disturbed when he opened the doors to look at them. And even if the buildings looked a lot like home, the amount of people he saw going about their business was rather low. It just hit him why the people of Traverse Town were called survivors. Millions of people, reduced to just a couple in an instant. It was a scary thought. It certainly put his quest of saving all the worlds into perspective.

Ji-Han looked at his EXP. 69.81%. He had taken down 5 Shadows and 6 Soldiers, yet had just gotten around 7 percent for the EXP to his next level. If he the trend continued, he'd need 2 hours before he got to his next level. But that was when he started with nearly 100 MP. He was now back to 17. He'd probably needed 3 hours now.

In a sense, it seemed better to focus on grinding his skills for now. They really did come along quite nicely.

{[Observe (active) Lv5 EXP: 58.3%]  
Allows the user to see information about the target.  
Shows the Name, Level, Title, Class, Max-HP, HP, Max-MP and MP of characters.  
Shows the Name, Level, Type, Max-HP, HP, Max-MP, MP and  
general information of monsters.  
Shows the Name and general information of Items.}

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery (passive) Lv4 EXP: 89.2%]  
Allows the user to freely handle blunt weapons.  
25% increase in attack damage with blunt weapons.  
8.75% increase in attack speed with blunt weapons.}

{[Keyblade Mastery (passive) Lv3 EXP: 72.9%]  
Allows the user to handle the different techniques of a Keyblade.  
3% increase in attack damage of skills used with the Keyblade.}

[Power Strike] was still stuck at level 1 but at last he had managed to gain another skill in the meantime:

{[Physical Endurance (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
The body's durability increases and you take less damage.  
3% decrease in damage taken by physical attacks.}

What kind of an awesome skill was that?! Sure, a 3% decrease didn't sound so impressive, but this was just the first level. It would grow higher soon enough. And once he got enough HP, even 3% would go a long way. Heck, if he could increase it to 10%, it would be useful already. Furthermore, there were only two types of damage, as far as he knew. If he could grind this skill he would be practically invincible to anything that wasn't magic! Or at last, extremely hard to take down.

The only real problem with Physical Endurance was how to level it up. He doubted it would level up just from him owning it, so there was only one option left: Damage. He had to take damage for it to level up. Which was a problem with his current HP. He really needed a healing ability. Both for HP and MP. His current regeneration was just not going to cut it.

Suddenly two dark spheres appeared in the room, turning into two Soldier-Heartless. Huh, looks like the time for break was over. And he still had only one [Power Strike] up his sleeve. But he was inside an empty room… enough space to run circles along the walls. Maybe it'll work here!

In his last battle against one Shadow and two Soldiers, he had destroyed the two Soldiers first and then continued to just evade the Shadow. That was, because he had wanted to try out, what exactly amounted to the increase of EXP for his two Mastery Skills. It couldn't be hitting an enemy since that was way too few moments so far for it to have been leveling up already. So he tried out multiple things and figured out that it increases as long as he used it in combat, even if that combat was just him running away from an enemy.

And that was, why he had left the weakest enemy alive and ran around, grinding his skills that way. He even got 1 WIS when he had come up with that exploit. Unfortunately, with the corridor being small and narrow, he had to run from one end to the other, resulting in a new Soldier being able to sneak up at him and hurting him. That was actually the only time since leaving Genos and co. behind, that he had been hurt, always being able to avoid their attacks otherwise. So even with finding a good way to grind those skills, getting hit like that had been a bit of an embarrassment.

But if he was always against the wall, he would be able to see surprise attacks coming. And he was so close to leveling up both skills again, he had to try it.

"[Observe]", Ji-Han activated, the same moment that he ran towards a Soldier.

{Soldier Lv8  
HP: 74/74  
MP: 25/25  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Heartless that emerge from various places. They are brisk in their movements, and rush into their opponents.}

He only took long enough to take in the enemy's level and HP, before swatting the panel out of the air as a fast way of closing it so that it would not interfere. Then he was already upon the Heartless and hit it once, before retreating, as the other one was jumping in his direction. But this way the second soldier missed and Ji-Han could easily hit him on its back twice. Then he retreated again as the first Soldier clawed at him, only to strike forward when the spiky hand had passed by. And then he kicked it, or rather, pushed it away with his feet and jumped back, bringing again more distance between them.

Okay. He had hit both of them twice. That meant that they were both halfway done. He might actually take out one of them with a [Power Strike] but there was always the possibility of one of them just hanging on by 1 HP after that, so he'd rather wait when he was in more of a pinch. With two Heartless who, thanks to their nature as Heartless, were rarely attacking at the same time, he was able to deal with them without taking damage.

The first one was standing just around for now, while the second charged at him, making a clattering sound. Ji-Han curved around to the other one but to his misfortune, it decided to attack now after all, jumping into the air and spinning around. Ji-Han couldn't jump out of the way in time and had no other choice but to hold up his Keyblade defensively above his head as the foot came crushing down.

Ironically, Ji-Han starting to block so late actually worked out for him, as the foot met his key when it was still in mid-swing. In other words, the force from the swing met the Soldier and knocked it away, sending it sprawling on the ground.

Huh. That worked pretty well. So, are those Soldiers weak against their own attacks being blocked? Makes sense, at last as far as the jumping attack went. He had always preferred to avoid them since he didn't want to get damage, but depending on how long the Heartless kept lying on the ground, it might be not a bad idea to do that more often.

Ji-Han turned around to keep an eye on the other Soldier and instantly stumble backwards as the Heartless was _right behind him_, already preparing to use its claw it him. And then he had to back up even further as it followed up with a thrust, which Ji-Han used to attack its hand at the same time.

Unfortunately, there was still the other Heartless on the ground and Ji-Han, having backed up too far, stumbled on it. He fell backwards over the downed body and rolled over the ground behind it. As soon as he stopped, he tried to get back up and shake off the small disorientation at the same time. At last the Heartless, too, had been surprised by the actions and was also still struggling to get back again.

The other meanwhile, had only been idle long enough for Ji-Han to pick himself up again, which wasn't a result of something like honor but just its low intelligence and drive. Still, Ji-Han would take what he could get and thus even this small pause was welcome to him. And that guy had been so annoying all this time that it was time to take him down!

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

'PERFECT!' Thought Ji-Han as he sidestepped the Soldier's try to land a succession of kicks on him and slashed him square along its backside twice in succession, turning it into dust particles and a heart floating into the air and through the ceiling as if it wasn't there. {+51 EXP}

Okay, that was that. Now he would run around the room and see if it really was a good way of grinding his Mastery Skills!

He went towards a wall and waited for the Soldier who had finally managed to get off from the ground. The Heartless took a look at him and then started running. Ji-Han did the same.

What followed was a minute-and-half-long game of tag, which was only interrupted when the Soldier occasionally stopped and stared stupidly into the room or walked in a small circle, before he went again after Ji-Han.

{[Keyblade Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Aha, finally that one got to level 4, too. Not that it was that useful as it only increased his damage by not even a tenth and only if he used [Power Strike]…

PING!

{Because [Keyblade Mastery] has reached Level 4,  
a new skill has been created.}

{A skill to break through defenses, [Guard Break], has been created.}

{[Guard Break (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 5MP  
A strike that can break through the target's guard and destroys shields.  
Successful when the target's VIT or INT, depending on what kind of  
defense is used, is lower than 1.1 times the user's STR.  
When it reaches the target after breaking through the defense,  
it is always a critical hit.}

"What the-", Ji-Han exclaimed astonished.

Not because the skill was such a game breaker. It was nice to have an ability to break through defenses, but so far his only enemies didn't use shields or blocked attacks. If it didn't use any MP, he could have used it to with his normal attacks to get the bonus from Keyblade Mastery for at last a slight increase. But so, the three times the cost from [Power Strike] was worth more thanks to its 50% increase of damage.

No, what really was a big deal was the fact that he actually got an ability thanks to leveling up another one! That hadn't happened before! Was that a quality of the Keyblade? No matter the reason, it now had turned one of the weakest abilities he had into a, if not the most powerful one. He had to level it up!

A clattering sound was the only warning he got before the Soldier, having used his moment of inattention, jumped at him while spinning in the air.

Ji-Han fell backwards on his behind as he stumbled to bring his Keyblade in front of him. But he was in time and once again, the foot impacted on the Keyblade and the Soldier was through backwards, falling helplessly to the ground.

PING!

{By being criminally lucky,  
your LUK has increased by 1.}

"Oh, screw you, too…"

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to defend against attacks, [Guard], has been created.}

{[Guard (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
A technique to protect oneself from attacks.  
Protects against an attack from the front when used with the correct timing.  
Increases knockback chance by 10% when utilized successfully.}

Ah, so that's what his ability meant with {criminally lucky}. His involuntary actions let him to get a skill!

Not wanting a repeat of what happened earlier, he made sure to keep an eye on the downed enemy as he took in the skill description.

Oh, a defensive skill? Still, what did it mean with "correct timing"?! He preferred a defense that stayed around. Nevertheless, a skill was a skill and this one was at last useful against the axe-kicks of the Soldier-Heartless.

Speaking of, the monster in question was jumping up, again. Back to running.

Half a minute later, a PING resounded and a message appeared:

{Due to continued physical training,  
your VIT has increased by 1.}

Oh, right, he could increase Stats through work, too, couldn't he? In other words, running with a Heartless on his tale not only increased his skill levels, but his VIT as well! Lucky. Even if it was a bit surreal to do so. The Heartless was trying to kill him, after all.

And then another Soldier-Heartless showed up. But since he could actually see coming him this time, it seemed like it was working. So he quickly took care of the previous heartless so that he couldn't become an issue {+43 EXP} and whittled down the new one a bit so that he could take care of him fast when the next one showed up.

And then repeat and repeat. Except for the time two Shadows showed up at once, but that wasn't really a problem for him. It just meant he had to cut down their numbers first, before he could continue with this routine.

In the end, after roughly 10 minutes he had managed to level up [Keyblade Mastery] by 1, [Blunt Weapon Mastery] by 2 and his VIT had also increased by 2. Which was fine if not for the fact, that this was turning out to be pretty boring after a while. Just running in the same circle became repetitive and he was actually looking forward to any time another Heartless showed up, so that he could have some variation. And considering that [Keyblade Mastery] wasn't even halfway done, he decided to stop here, take down the latest Soldier and continue back to Genos and co.

He turned around and cut down the Heartless, gaining him {+44 EXP} and a [Scrap Aluminum (1 dm³)] as item drop. Which, with another Scrap Aluminum and a Lucid Shard, made it the third monster drop he had gotten since entering the White Ant. Even if the monsters didn't drop money like he was used to from video games, if he could sell those drop items, he could get some income that way. He should probably ask Mikage if she knew where he could sell things.

* * *

"Welcome back", greeted Genos, "have you found what you were looking for?"

"More or less. I've now found a way to better increase my [Keyblade Mastery] and got pretty good at dealing with Heartless without taking damage. I can now easily take down Shadows with two consecutive hits and Soldiers are not a problem either, as long as I don't get greedy and retreat after the first two hits." Or fail blocking their axe-kick with [Guard] but Genos didn't need to know of that moment of shame.

"I am also faster than them, so I can still run from them, if they are too much trouble."

"Good", noted Genos. "I am assuming you will now go out?"

"Yeah. Gotta get things sorted out."

"Here you go", said Mikage as she handed him the copied dossier and Ji-Han thanked her as he put it in the [Inventory].

"Oh, by the way", he remembered. "Do you know any shops that buy stuff?"

"The Leon Shop buys generally anything", explained Mikage. "The exception are things that they can't sell again and objects procured by unsavory means. The other shops are specialist shops and buy as such only objects of their specialty or materials and tools useful for their production. If you can strike a deal with one of them, they are generally willing to pay more for your goods than the Leon Shop, but they might not buy anything at all if their own business hasn't been good lately."

"I see. So, scrap metal and minerals would be better sold to a smith?"

"Indeed. Unfortunately, the Smithy is located in the Rural District of Traverse Town, so the journey can take some time."

Rural district?

Ji-Han took out the map and unfolded it. From the looks of it, Traverse Town seemed to be separated into multiple districts named after… their industrial development? And for some reason all the districts were connected to the "edge" of Traverse Town like in a circle. There was the large Urban District to the… northwest? There wasn't a north pointer on the map, so he wasn't sure.

Nevertheless, "south" of it was the Traditional District and next to that the Medieval District. East of that was the Rural District, which went far enough north that it still had a border with the Urban District. The Northeast was mainly covered by something labeled the Water District while the Southeast was the Mountain District. The Mountain and Water District split apart at some point from each other, making way for the Arctic District and at the south of the Mountain District where two other districts. On literally the southeast edge of the map was the Desert District and west of that, in between two branches of the Mountain District was the Fire District.

As Ji-Han opened another page, it showed the Urban District in more detail, or at last part of it. The Urban District was large enough to take multiple pages. Wait a minute…

"Kazusaushiku Station?" Ji-Han read surprised. "You have a train network?"

"Only the tracks", refuted Zenkichi. "We don't have working trains in Traverse Town but the tracks and stations make for excellent landmarks. For example, if you leave the White Ant and continue to the left, you will meet train tracks. If you follow them to the right you'll reach Shugakuin Station, which is close to the connection point between the four main districts and if you follow to the left you will reach Ichiyama Station. Then the path branches again, left to Kazusaushiku Station with the Shopping Arcade on the way and right to Iogi Station which is close to Franky's House."

"I see. Thanks for the explanation." Looks like his new goal was set.

"Alright", Ji-Han decided. "I'll be going then. Goodbye and, again, thanks for everything you've done for me.

"You are welcome", responded Genos. "And if you have any more questions, my BBS-account is [Blond Cyborg]."

"Alright. Thanks."

With that he left the three to their own devices and went outside. Or rather, out of the room. He still had a bit to go before he was out of the building.

"Alright, here goes."

* * *

After 15 minutes of walking and four two-second fights against Shadows, he had left the White Ant with one Lucid Shard more. The he followed Zenkichi's directions and went left until he could see the train tracks, where he was roped into another battle with 3 Shadows and 2 Soldiers. The fight had been easy as it had been lucrative, as afterwards he had not only gained another Lucid Shard, but also a new item called [Scrap Lead (1 dm³)]… even if he wondered if he really could give that one to a smithy. But [Observe] had said that it could be recycled, so he had to be able to give it to someone. Luckily, he had an [Inventory], so he wasn't in danger of getting lead poisoning just by carrying it around.

He was ripped out of his thoughts when new Heartless appeared.

"Okay, 2 Shadows, 2 Soldiers and, oh shit! [Observe]!"

{Air Soldier Lv15  
HP: 75/75  
MP: 0/0  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Winged Heartless. They fly over their enemies and dive to strike them.  
Their high endurance and quickness make them tough to beat.}

Right, he forgot the Soldiers with the draconic wings and propeller-cap were there, too, now that was going to be a new experience…

He quickly dashed over to the first Shadow, taking it out with two well-placed strikes. A Soldier was going after him and Ji-Han, not wanting to play around while the Air Soldier was there, used a [Power Strike] to slam it to the ground, the same time the second Shadow slid over the ground behind him.

He quickly dashed away, not wanting to be surrounded but suddenly the Air Soldier dived down, slammed its feet against his back and threw him towards the ground. {-23}

Ji-Han rolled over the pavement until he slammed against a traffic sign with a red triangle. Suppressing the pain, he quickly picked himself up, taking in the current situation. The Air Soldier was in the air above him, currently flying away from him, one of the Soldiers was still standing, while the other and the last Shadow were coming for him though the Soldier looked like he was going to reach him earlier.

Ji-Han ran towards them and used a [Power Strike] on the Soldier, scoring a {Critical} and instantly evaporated it. {+45 EXP} Then he continued onwards towards the Shadow and took him down, too. {+21 EXP} Meanwhile the Air Soldier had turned around and was staring at him. Then both, he and the Soldier attacked at the same time, one straight and one above.

The Air Soldier was faster and Ji-Han threw himself to the side to avoid its feet and continued to roll further when the ground version did its axe-kick at the place he had been before. But then he quickly got up again and attacked the Soldier with two successive strikes, taking him out of the fight, too. {+43 EXP}

Now it was only him and the Air Soldier. And now that they were only two, Ji-Han could easily see its attacks coming and get out of the- woah! FAST!

Ji-Han could just barely jump to the side to avoid getting a boot to the head. And once he picked himself up, the Air Soldier was already gone, hovering in the air just out of reach.

Damn that bastard! If that guy came only down to attack and went away right afterwards, Ji-Han would never able to damage him. And then they'd just continue that whole game until more Heartless showed up! If he didn't want to admit defeat to it and all Air Soldiers in Traverse Town, he had to find something now! He could try throwing one of his items at it, but he somehow doubted he would make a lot of damage even it hit and the Heartless didn't just avoid it. So, the only option left was to take the attack head-on!

"[Guard]!" Ji-Han shouted as the Air Soldier came diving down again, bringing his Keyblade up in a defending motion. Other than using [Guard], he could have also attacked at the same moment, but since he was already depending on the right timing, why not use the skill that actually was made for situations like this?!

The boot hit the Keyblade and was repelled, its owner thrown back as well. But not far. The Air Soldier spread its wings, stopping it before it could crash against anything. However, thanks to the small size of the wings compared to the body, it still was tumbling in the air, trying to find balance. Maybe one feet over his head. That was his chance!

Ji-Han jumped into the air and smacked it with a [Power Strike].

{Critical}, appeared in near the Heartless as it was smashed against the ground and Ji-Han landed near it. Then, not wanting to give it the opportunity to get up, Ji-Han quickly put his own foot on top of its chest-area where the black and red heart-like symbol was.

"[Observe]!" Ji-Han used on the downed foe and his eyes bulged out. 47 HP left?! A [Power Strike] and a CRIT and he hadn't even managed to get it down half-way?! How sturdy were these guys?!

His distraction was used by the Heartless to swipe with its claws at him, dealing… 3 damage?! Could it be that, unless they were swooping down from up high, they were actually pretty weak?

Ji-Han sprouted a menacing grin and then began to deliver a smack-down upon the grounded Air Soldier, hitting it as many times as fast as he could.

{Critical} {37/75}

{Critical} {32/75}

{Critical} {11/75}

{9/75}

{5/75}

{Critical} {0/75}

With that the Air Soldier and the [Observe]-Panel vanished, replaced by a {+75 EXP}. And Ji-Han's foot suddenly found himself in mid-air, still with pressure applied to it, resulting in it stomping hard on the ground below it.

"Ouch!" Exclaimed Ji-Han as he fought back the pain. At last he now had a way to take down the annoying fliers. He just had to get them one-on-one!

"Congratulations!" A voice suddenly spoke up from behind him and he turned around startled. "You handled yourself pretty well for someone who has no ranged attack. I wonder what you will do when you are faced with flying magic users."

In front of Ji-Han stood an old man with gray hair, a full beard of the same color and red eyes, wearing a mischievous smile on his face. Despite his age, he was still rather tall and had a regal appearance, with black vest over a black shirt of expensive-looking material and black silk-like trousers, as well as white gloves and a cane that looked more like a long scepter than something he needed to walk. And he had only question marks above his head. Considering that the only other person so far to have not even their name shown had been the god Yato, he'd be stupid to think of him as just a weak old guy.

"Actually, I was thinking of running away if that happened", Ji-Han responded to the man's query. "But hopefully I'll get a long-distance skill before it comes to that or I'll have to throw stones at them." Wait. Could that actually work? If he could get a throwing skill and leveled it up enough he might actually be able to force them from the sky with it!

"There is no shame in running away from a stronger opponent", noted the man. "But there will come a time when running away will mean, to leave something else behind."

"You are right", conceded Ji-Han. "How am I supposed to save a world, if I couldn't deal with even the weakest enemies?"

"Saving a world? Are you perhaps from the Hero Union? That would explain why I haven't seen you around before."

"Ah, sorry", responded Ji-Han sheepishly. "I am a member of the Hero Union, but I only became one after coming to Traverse Town. I am actually here because my world just got devoured by Heartless."

"Oh, my condolences."

But Ji-Han shook his head.

"No need, I am not going to mourn just yet. I plan on getting it back! In fact, it is because of that that I became a member of the Hero Union in the first place!"

"Restoring your world?" Mused the old man. "Do you have any idea on how to do that?"

"Not yet", denied Ji-Han, "but that's why it's a long-term goal. For now I'll just travel from world to world, saving as many as I can from the Heartless, looking for information on where the hearts of the worlds could have ended up to."

"But if your world just got devoured by Heartless, I doubt you'll have managed to get a spaceship, yet", the old man reasoned. "Or does your Keyblade give you the ability to do so on foot?"

"I actually do plan on getting a spaceship", exclaimed Ji-Han, "or hitchhiking at one." Huh, "hitchhiking through the galaxy", wasn't that the title of a movie? Wait.

Ji-Han had just realized something. Here he was, talking about spaceships and world travels to a powerful guy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere?! Didn't Genos said something about someone finding you?!

"Sorry, but I gotta ask", he spoke up, "are you by any chance Zelretch?"

The old man laughed loudly at that.

"Indeed", he confirmed, "I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, also known as the Wizard Marshall, the Old Man of the Jewels, the Kaleidoscope, as well as Oh-No-Not-Him-Again. And you would be?"

"Oh, I am Han Ji-Han… the Gamer, I guess?"

"Well then, Han Ji-Han, what brings you to this part of Traverse Town? If you are in need of a spaceship, shouldn't you be going to the TSAB Emissary or Franky's House? Or are you perhaps lost?"

"No", Ji-Han said, shaking his head, "but since I am barely strong enough to deal with the Heartless in Traverse Town, I thought first to get some money to buy stuff for my 'quest'. And for that I am going to Totosai-Ssi to see how much the scrap metal I've got is worth. Wait. You are called Old Man of the Jewels, right? Would you be interested in buying some stuff? [Inventory]!"

Exited Ji-Han opened the [Inventory] and pulled out a Lucid Shard, showing it to Zelretch.

"A gemstone naturally attuned to the element of ether?" The Old Man of the Jewels noted intrigued. "Are these common in your world?"

"I… don't know", admitted Ji-Han, "I wasn't really part of the supernatural community in my world before it got devoured. My ability makes these sometimes when I destroy a Shadow."

"What a peculiar application of the First Magic", mused the Kaleidoscope. "But to answer your question, I would be interested in these void crystals. One, however, is too few for experiments. How many do you have? I would be willing to buy twenty for now and maybe more if I found a use for them."

Getting 20 monster drops for someone? That sounded like a…

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Buying in Bulk: 20 Lucid Shards

Zelretch is willing to buy [Lucid Shard]s from you, but only if you bring him 20 at once.

Gather 20 [Lucid Shard]s and give them to Zelretch.

Completion Award: +4000 EXP  
A payment of 150 000 Munny  
Increased reputation with Zelretch.

Completion Failure: +1000 EXP  
Decreased reputation with Zelretch.}

"Is something the matter?" Inquired Zelretch and Ji-Han shook his head.

"You know how I said I am 'The Gamer'? My ability just gave me a quest to get you 20 Lucid Shards", explained Ji-Han. "Thing is, I only have seven so far. Would you be willing to wait?"

"Sure", responded Zelretch, "just don't expect me to come looking for you right away when you are finished."

"Right", confirmed Ji-Han and tipped {YES}, closing the quest alert. Now he'd just gotta kill enough Shadows so that they drop 13 more Lucid Shards. Should be doable, right. Right? At last the Shadows were easy too defeat.

"If that is all then, I shall take my leave", Zelretch told Ji-Han, who nodded.

"Yes, thank you for your time. I'll have to go, too, getting more funds and all… WAIT!"

"Oh, is something the matter?" Zelretch asked nonchalantly, yet a smirk had appeared on his face.

"Ehm, Genos told me you can travel between worlds… so I wanted to ask you, if you could help me with the whole spaceship-issue?"

"Oh, I don't know if I really am the right person to ask for that. The TSAB is an organization full of people with the goal to save worlds, so you should ask them. Or is there another reason why you wouldn't want to go with them?"

Ji-Han froze. Why exactly didn't he want to go to the TSAB? He could make all kinds of excuses, like that it would take too much time or something, but in the end he already knew why he didn't want to become a member of them.

"I just don't want to become someone's goon", he answered honestly. "I am the one who got this power, the Keyblade and the Gamer and I want to be the one to decide how to use them. I don't mind helping the TSAB out at times, but I want to have the option to decline. I want to fight, when I want to. I want to train, when I want to. I want to travel, where I want to. I want to help the people, I want to. In the end, I still am a Gamer, after all."

"That makes sense", noted Zelretch. "I don't like people telling me how to use my abilities either. And personally, in my opinion something as powerful as the Keyblade should not be a part of a bureaucratic organization. And while I do not need to use a spaceship to travel through the worlds, I actually have a spare one that I found some time ago. And since you seem earnest in your quest on saving worlds, I would not mind giving it to you."

"Really?" Ji-Han asked and Zelretch nodded.

"Under one condition, at last."

"Condition, what condition?"

"You accept a certain bet with me."

Ji-Han's enthusiasm pummeled at once.

"A bet? That doesn't sound that good…"

"I assume as much", Zelretch admitted. "But at the end of the day, you do not actually need my help. Even if you do not like the TSAB, there are other ways of aquiring a spaceship. It would take a long time, certainly, but you can gather enough money to commission your own, especially someone like you, who has so many unique abilities. You can also take a credit and if you end up completely at a loss on what to do, you will find Yuuko. Giving you a spaceship would just be the convenient, easy way out of this situation. No effort, no risk.

I will not jeopardize your quest on saving worlds so I will give you the spaceship as long as you accept the bet. No matter, whether you actually win it or not. However, if you lose, I will make it so that every time you want to use your Keyblade, you will transform into a Magical Girl!"

Say what?!

"It won't interfere with your fights if you lose", Zelretch continued, "but it should give you the necessary motivation to win the bet, adding a risk-factor to this way of aquiring a spaceship. The bet in question being, how many comrades you can gather for your quest within six hours!"

"Comrades?"

"Yes, comrades. Saving even one world is a big task. It would be a lot easier if you had people to fall onto in times of trouble. More people means more different abilities to cover your partners' shortcomings. Like trouble with flying enemies. Thus getting comrades should be on your list, regardless of the bet. So, using it as part of the bet is like hitting two birds with one stone.

I would advise you to get at last four comrades, but I will consider it your win, if you get at last two.

So, how about it? Will you risk this gamble? Or will you go looking for the other ways on gaining a spaceship?!"

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

True Companions: Your Merry Band of Misfits

Traveling and fighting on your own is just too lonely, not to mention difficult.

Find at last 2 people to accompany you on your journey within 6 hours.

Bonus Objective:  
Find at last 4 people to accompany you on your journey within 6 hours.

Completion Award: +2000 EXP for every new party member.  
You get a ship to travel between worlds.  
Increased reputation with Zelretch.

Bonus Award:  
?

Completion Failure: +500 EXP  
You get a ship to travel between worlds.  
Whenever you want to use the Keyblade you have to transform into a Magical Girl.  
Decreased reputation with Zelretch.}

This was the first quest where a failure would not just mean, he didn't get all the nice bonuses of a completed quest and people wouldn't like him as much. This was the first time, a failure would have lasting consequences. And yet, he couldn't say the deal wasn't good. He was practically getting a freaking spaceship for free. But becoming a Magical Girl? Changing gender and clothes? Most likely to something extremely cute? How embarrassing would that be?!

Still, the deal was just _so_ good. And the winning condition? Something he should do an effort to get anyways. As Zelretch had explained, getting comrades would be something making his journey a lot easier. And with so many people having lost their world, he should get at last two to join him in his efforts to restore them. The question was more, could he do that in six hours? Would he risk it?

…risk, huh. Certainly, it was a risk. But if you went down to it, the only thing he was really risking was his dignity. Zelretch's bet didn't involve a danger to his life, just embarrassment, even if a lot of it. In a sense he had to ask himself, if he was too afraid to risk losing his dignity, how was he supposed to risk his life, something that was pretty much guaranteed to be in danger on his quest?

He didn't know if Zelretch had planned it that way, but for him refusing the bet would also him refusing to risk his life. In other words, he shouldn't go on his quest in the first place. So, Han Ji-Han, are you prepared to actually risk your life?

No, no, he wasn't. But he would do it anyway. Because giving up now would mean giving up on mother, his father and all his friends, everyone on his world. Never again getting nagged on by his mother, never again making stupid jokes with Sun-Il, never again getting teased by Sea-Young, never getting reprimanded by the old geezer for introducing Sun-Il to video games, never again getting the "Rod of Love"… okay, he didn't miss that one exactly, but he still didn't want to give up on his teacher like that. And that was why, he would do it, even though he knew he was in over his head.

"Alright, I'll accept", decided Ji-Han and the quest alert vanished him needing to push the button. "I'll accept your challenge!"

"Good", exclaimed Zelretch. "I'll see you in six hours then."

With that the Old Man of the Jewels vanished from view in the blink of an eye. Alright. The clock was ticking. Totosai had to wait for now. He had to get companions. So, first order of business? Praying.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And that's how Ji-Han gets his companions: By actually looking for them. In canon, Donald and Goofy literally fell on top of Sora and brought with them the means to travel through different worlds. They don't exist here, so Ji-Han had to find other ways to travel through other worlds. The one's currently available to him where spoken of in detail within the chapter. Special mention should also go to the Leon Shop. In Yuushibu they are not actually selling things in the whole multiverse. They are just really a magical supermarket chain selling all kinds of items which I've decided to make one of the successful companies operating on the multiverse after they found out it exist. Which means that their ability to take Ji-Han from world to world is just a side-effect of their business. On that note, the Cyborg Franky also got his ability to build spaceships only after he got to Traverse Town and is now with Jusei Fudo repairing the ships from the TSAB when they are in the vicinity.

For the writing it is also easier to not have Ji-Han go with the TSAB or try to get enough money to make Franky build him a new ship, because of how long that takes to get the story rolling. So, in the end it is Zelretch who gave Ji-Han the way to travel, not with a magical companion like Yuuko in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, but with an actual spaceship that he found somewhere.

Speaking of Zelretch, I do hope I did him justice. A lot of people depict him as a troll who enjoys making life difficult for others, but as far as I know that is generally reserved for those who tried to take advantage of him. He's not above embarrassing people but he's still firmly on the side of saving humanity. Hopefully that showed in his demeanor this chapter.

Next on the list of things to talk about is Traverse Town or, to be more specific, its geographic appearance, which as of this day is the current story image. As the remnants of other worlds it's a patchwork city where, whenever new pieces get added, they get added to a place with similar features, creating the different districts. Which also results in the flat nature of Traverse Town. Places are put to the edges while buildings or other geographical features end up in empty spaces in-between. I had planned for not every world to be trusting a Keyblade wielder, resulting in its destruction and side-quests in which Ji-Han has to find the new locations and people.

Then there is the fact that I've separated perks from skills. So, while [Gamer's Body] did not show up in the Skills, this is because it is a perk that does not level up the same way as skills.

Lastly, I want to talk about the skill Keyblade Mastery. In canon Sora learned new skills as he leveled up, which here is represented by the skill Keyblade Mastery. The skills in question are a mix between skills Sora learned and those that resemble game mechanics that are not included in The Gamer. Like Observe, High Jump or Second Chance. Of course, the way The Gamer works it can happen that Ji-Han gets one of the skills another way first, in which case his proficiency in the skill goes up instead. The skills are separated into seven categories, STR, VIT, DEX, INT, WIS, LUK and [?] and just like in KH, the choice in the Dive to Heart effects, which skills are learned first and which later. For Ji-Han's current choice it results in the following table:

LVL STR+, INT-  
4 STR1: Guard Break  
8 VIT1: Guard  
12 DEX1: Dodge Roll  
16 ?1: Night Eye: seeing in the dark  
20 WIS1: Hidden Key: the key does not attract Heartless  
24 LUK1: Observe  
28 INT1: Meditation: restores MP  
32 ?2: High Jump  
36 STR2: Stun Impact  
40 DEX2: Stealth  
44 VIT2: Heal  
48 ?3: Water Breath: able to go without breathing  
52 LUK2: Draw  
56 WIS2: Spotlight  
60 INT2: Disc Drive: attack spell  
64 ?4: Item Synthesis  
68 STR3: Strike Raid  
72 VIT3: Second Chance  
76 DEX3: Zantesuken  
80 ?5: Double Jump  
84 WIS3: Lockdown: locking attacks on enemy  
88 LUK3: Data Resistance  
92 INT3: Parallel Threads: different version of Ragnarok  
94 ?6: Customize: change appearance  
96 ?7: Screenshot: instant photographing  
100 ?8: Time Out: pause feature

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	5. Chapter 4: Co-op Mode

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Just a quick notice beforehand: I've created a Forum to talk about stuff regarding Heart of Akasha. You might want to check it out, though this is all rather new for me so please excuse any faults for now.

Chapter 4: Co-op Mode

"So, this is the place…" mused Ji-Han as he read the sign over the entrance door:

{Wagnaria. Coffee and Restaurant}

Truth be told, if it weren't for the colorful sign with the fork and spoon, he would have thought it to be just a gym from some school… which probably meant that the building had been a gym before, if he thought back on Traverse Town's "hospital".

"Yeah, this is it", confirmed Yato. "Best place to hang out you have nothing else to do. So, perfect place for you to find your new comrades!"

Ji-Han nodded. As soon as Zelretch had left, he had called for Yato. Foregoing any thoughts of leveling or training for the moment, he had let him deal with all the enemies, while they went to go to a place where he could find new companions. Yato had suggested Wagnaria, a restaurant at the border between the Urban and the Traditional District. It was also near the most popular inn called Konohanatei, meaning he could ask there next.

"Thanks for bringing me here", Ji-Han told the god who just nodded.

"Don't worry about it. It is the job of a god to fulfill the wishes of his followers!" Ji-Han chuckled.

"Right", he said as he went into the restaurant, followed by Yato who had no other wishes to fulfill at the moment.

The inside showed a lot more that this was indeed just a repurposed gym, as it had the typical gym floor with white lines for the different sports. The wooden tables were either small with a single support in the center of the square tabletop or longer with the support going in a straight line from one of the shorter sides of the table to another. The seats were easily to move wooden chairs with magenta padding or, more rarely, smaller benches, also with magenta padding. In between the tables were waist-high paper walls to ensure a bit of privacy, but allowed the staff to notice anyone raising their hand.

[-Wagnaria Manager-  
Lv38 Takahashi, Souta]

[-Wagnaria Employee-  
Lv8 Hayase, Makiko]

[-Wagnaria Employee-  
Lv32 Takahashi, Mahiru]

Speaking of the staff, there was a young man called [Takanashi, Souta] with light brown hair and brown eyes framed by round glasses in a white shirt and dark blue trousers as well as a bowtie of the same color. He stood behind a counter with some stools in front of it, similar to a bar while behind him, from the open emergency exit of the gym, came a young woman called [Hayase, Makiko]. She had also brown hair, but opposite to Souta, hers was darker and flowed down all the way to her behind. She wore the same white shirt and a dark blue bow tie, but hers was a bit less formal and more cutesy. She also wore a skirt instead of trousers and a beige frilled apron.

The last member of the staff, [Takahashi, Mahiru], wore the same female uniform like Makiko but had shoulder-length orange hair and orange… no, pinkish eyes and was currently walking past Ji-Han to the emergency exit with an empty tray.

"Welcome", she greeted Ji-Han as she noticed him. "Please take a seat, we'll be with you shortly."

"Ah, no", refuted Ji-Han. "Maybe later, but now I have still some business to do."

"Business?" She repeated and Ji-Han nodded.

"Do you have a problem if I do some sort of announcement? I am looking for guys for a job and it would be easier than just asking everyone on their own."

"You have to ask Souta for that", she explained uncomfortably. "I don't think he will have a problem with that."

Mahiru let him to the counter and quickly went through the emergency exit. But before Ji-Han had the chance to speak with the manager, the person sitting on one of the stools next to the counter addressed him:

"Hello, I haven't seen you around here, are you new?"

The man was one of the people with only question marks. And his appearance also wasn't something you'd see often. He had waist-length green hair with two bangs falling down the middle of his forehead, going in between his eyes and then splitting past his nose, one going right, the other going left. Speaking of the eyes, they were blue but had a darker ripple around the people, giving them a supernatural flair. Also rather striking were his dark, full lips.

He wore something like a black raincoat but with the hood not pulled up and instead simply let down falling on his back.

"Yeah, I've just came to Traverse Town, making the man nod solemnly.

"My condolences", he said as he took out a card from the inside of his raincoat. "If you want to mourn properly, give me a call."

Ji-Han took the card reading its contents:

{**Raiga's Funerals**

-Kurosuki Raiga-

Because mourning is the first step to acceptance.}

"Thanks", responded Ji-Han. "But I am not giving up just yet. I will find a way to restore my and all the worlds!"

"Do you know how to?" Asked Raiga skeptically. "Hope can easily turn into despair if it stays unfulfilled. And it is better to accept loss surrounded by people to help you than to hold it all in until you can't stand it anymore when you will be alone against the Heartless."

"I have ideas", explained Ji-Han, making Raiga's eyebrow rise up. "The real problem is more that I need to find the right place. And for that I am currently recruiting. You wouldn't be up for an adventure through the multiverse?"

Raiga laughed.

"I am a bit too old to travel around worlds like that. No, I'd rather stay here, watching Ranmaru grow up. I'll be fine in any world as long as he's taken care of."

Figures. It would have been too easy to get such a powerful ally.

"Ehm, excuse me, Souta-Ssi", he thus addressed the manager. "Do you mind if I do an announcement? I want to find people joining me on my journey and it would be easier, if I can just ask everyone at once."

"I don't mind", Takahashi told him. "But why don't you just go to Hitoyoshi-san and put it up as a job? You should find people that way easier."

"He made a bet with Zelretch", supplied Yato before Ji-Han could say something, making Takahashi and Raiga both choke on their own spit. It seems, his personality was pretty well-known, after all.

"I know it sounds stupid", acknowledged Ji-Han before either of the two could say something, "but if I can't take the risk of some embarrassment, how can I risk my life?"

"That's one way to look at it", noted Raiga while Souta shook his head.

"I don't know what you bet on, but if I were you, I would do everything in my power to win", he exclaimed and Ji-Han nodded.

"I'll get to it." With that he turned around and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, everyone", he addressed the people in the room loudly, "I am sorry to interrupt you, but I would like to take a minute of your time."

While he waited for everyone's attention to settle on him, he looked over the people in the restaurant, especially some noteworthy people.

[-Tera Guardian Princess-  
Lv? Kuro]

A short girl with long, reddish-brown hair with a long cowlick. She wore a light brown and baggy hoodie, as well as a red dog color around her neck and bandages wrapped around her hands. While she turned her attention to Ji-Han, he could see a dog steal something out of her ramen bowl.

[Sudden Anemia  
-Tera Guardian Contractee-  
Lv1 Otohime, Mutsumi]

Next to Kuro was a young woman with brown hair going all the way to hair waist and two cowlick on top of her head. She wore a green sweater and an orange skirt and looked generally like a normal person. In fact, Ji-Han only noticed her thanks to her being next to Kuro and having the child-like level of [1].

[ˀ?ˀ  
Lv? Asteria, Rena]

[-Enastoria Empress-  
Lv22 Asteria, Yuinshiel]

The next pair of people together, seemed to be related in some way but Ji-Han wouldn't have been able to tell at a glance.

They were both young girls, but that was where the similarities ended. The first one was around grade-schooler age, while the second seemed to of middle-school age or around the earlier years of high school. The first one had grayish-purple hair braided into two short twin-tails framing her head, while the second had long golden-blond hair flowing in multiple fluid strands to her waist. The first had purple eyes, the second blue. The first wore a small bleach-purple dress with a purple pullover and something like a light pink blanket with a hood around her shoulders, tied in front of her chest with a yellow bow. The second wore a brown school uniform that emphasized her breasts with a blue skirt and a black tie. The second also had a sheathed katana next to her, while the first was weaponless.

And then there was the fact that with the second, he could see level and title, but with the first he couldn't. They really didn't seem like relatives, but his ability said they both had the same last name. And besides, if they were related or not wasn't his business.

The third pair… where they all gathered in pairs? No, over there was a group of four.

The third pair only caught his eye, because he couldn't tell what the title meant:

[Shinra Banshou  
-Okonomiyaki Stand Owner-  
Lv39 Rokujou, Miharu]

[-Occult Academy Headmistress-  
Lv18 Kumashiro, Maya]

What the hell was a Shinra Banshou? And besides having a rather androgynous appearance, there wasn't really anything special about this young adult. Short black hair, green eyes, a blank expression and a simple white hoodie and blue jeans.

The woman beside him had a lot more exotic choice of clothing, a white figure-hugging dress which went only so far as to cover her behind and left her arms bare, long black thigh-highs that only left an inch of skin uncovered and white heels, as well as a white headband on top of her long and smooth black her. She had frowned when she met Ji-Han's eyes and he had quickly looked away.

Since the other people were too far away to make out their levels and names, there was only more pair of interest. Or at last, what he had assumed to be a pair since his ability had given him two labels.

[Claw of Balance  
Lv38 Izumi, Shinichi]

[-Living Weapon-  
Lv? Migi]

But he could only see one person, Izumi Shinichi, a man with short brown hair and eyes of the same color, as well as a scar above his right eye who wore a white shirt with some Japanese symbols on them and black trousers. He couldn't see Migi, even though the label was directly over Shinichi's right hand… wait. Was his right hand Migi?! He had a living weapon as a right hand?! That was… probably not that special considering all the other people in Traverse Town. He certainly wouldn't say no to someone strong as that becoming his party member.

Speaking of…

Ji-Han coughed again and then began to talk to the people:

"Hello, my name is Han Ji-Han. I have just recently come to Traverse Town when my world was devoured by the Heartless. However, shortly afterwards I have become a member of the Hero Union with the mission to restore all the worlds who had been devoured and prevent any more worlds from being taken by the Heartless. For that I am going to travel from world to world using this Keyblade…", and with that he held out his hand to summon his Keyblade, earning him a round of gasps and shouts of surprise that would have made him a liar if he had to say that those hadn't made him happy, "…to close the keyhole of the world to prevent any more Heartless from reaching its heart to devour it. All of that with the ultimate goal to find information on where the stolen hearts of the worlds have gone to and take them back!

But I won't be able to do it alone. Even with the Keyblade I am just a single guy who is still starting to figure out his abilities. Thus I am looking for comrades who are willing to leave Traverse Town and accompany me on my quest, fighting Heartless and saving worlds! It will be dangerous, I am not going to lie and the Heartless will try to stop us, but if you believe, like me, that the rewards are worth the risk, then I welcome you aboard. Thank you. That is all."

With that Ji-Han fell silent and looked over the people, studying their reactions. Now, would there be someone willing to help him?

Kuro glanced over to her level-1-friend with worry in her eyes. She probably didn't want to leave her behind then. The same happened with the two Asteria girls who were exchanging conflicted gazes with each other. The Right-Hand Guy was trying and failing to hide the fact that he was talking to his hand while the Fancy-Dress Woman was giving him the stink-eye, as if just suggesting such a thing was already something despicable. Thus he quickly switched over to her companion, who, meeting his eyes, just shrugged apologetic.

"I am sorry", he told Ji-Han loudly. "But I can't let my Okonomiyaki Stand unattended for that long." Maya just snorted derogatory.

"It's not like anyone actually need to eat anything in this forsaken place", she proclaimed, making Ji-Han stare at her in surprise.

"You don't?" He inquired and Yato nodded.

"Traverse Town has some kind of background-radiation and dark matter that gives most organism all they need to survive. You don't even need to breath. Some people actually prefer not eating because it means they won't need to go to the toilet."

"But that is just surviving", proclaimed Souta. "Eating is not just a means to survive, it is also part of most cultures. So while you don't _need_ to eat, many still do it because they _enjoy_ it."

Huh. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't gotten hungry so far. Was that the reason for it?

"That aside", decided Ji-Han, before again addressing the crowd, "find me, if you want to join me and don't hesitate to spread the word."

Looks like this one was a bust. Maybe he had more luck in the Konohanatei.

"I am sorry we can't help you", Yuinshiel, who had stood up and approached him without his notice spoke to him, her little relative clinging to her hand. "But if you are looking for people, why don't you ask Sasamori-san for help? She has a special talent in finding suitable people."

Sasamori? He thought, he heard that name before… wait, finding people? Oh, she was the girl Hitomi had talked about, the one with the Iris!

"Right, she would be able to help, wouldn't she?" Ji-Han exclaimed exited. "Thanks for the tip! She lives at Chie's Apartment Building, didn't she? Yato-Nim, can you escort me there next? For 50 Munny, of course."

"Sure."

"Alright, but since I'm already here, I'll still go to the Konohanatei first. Hopefully you won't be away on a different job when I am done…"

"I can take care of that", suggested Shinichi, who also had made his way over to him. "I may not be able to help you on your quest, but I can at last spread the word."

"Really? Thanks, that'll take at last some pressure off me. [Status Window]."

Ji-Han opened the Status Window and tipped on the Munny-icon, opening a panel where he could use arrows above and below each digit, to decide how much Munny he wanted to take out, 50 in this case.

"Here, Yato-Nim, please escort me to Chie's Apartment Building."

"Your wish… ", Yato said as he took the orb, flicked it into the air and caught it, before holding it between the index and middle finger of a peace sign near his head just like the two time before, "has been heard loud and clear!"

* * *

"Sasamori-Ssi?" Ji-Han spoke as he knocked on her door of a small apartment building. "Are you there? I need your help."

He heard some rustling inside and soon enough, the door opened, revealing a teenage girl in a brown school uniform with an orange skirt and black highs reaching over her knee. She had orange hair and pinkish-eyes similar to Takahashi Mahiru he had seen earlier, but her hair was longer, reaching past her shoulders and was tied up with a red ribbon on each side.

Naturally, Ji-Han knew that he had found the right person as soon as she appeared, since he was able to see her name floating above her head:

[Eyes of Qualification  
-Student Body President-  
Lv3 Sasamori, Koyuki]

"Hello!" She greeted enthusiastically. "I am Sasamori Koyuki. How can I help?"

"Hello, I am Han Ji-Han. I am looking for people to accompany me on my journey. And people told me that you are the best person to find them."

"I can tell if someone is qualified for a task if I see them", Sasamori explained happily. "So if I stand in a place where there are many people coming through, I have a high chance of finding someone suitable."

Ah, that's right. To see if someone was qualified, she first had to see the person. She wasn't just a radar that could find his new teammates on command.

"Right, so if you can keep an eye out for people who would be suited to help Han Ji-Han on his quest to restore all the worlds, I would be really grateful to you."

"I will do that", she promised, but took on an unsure expression afterwards, "…but it could be that I am suited for that. Since I see the qualification of a person as an {O} or {X} above their head, I can never tell, whether I myself am qualified or not."

"Huh, so your ability doesn't work on mirrors?"

"I am sorry."

"Don't be. You shouldn't need your Iris to decide, whether you want to come with me or not. And while I would be glad for any new party member, I will get into fights with Heartless. And you don't seem like you'd want to do that."

"You aren't really fighting material", added Yato and Ji-Han agreed. It _was_ comparatively rare to see someone with such a low level in Traverse Town.

"But there is still something else I can do!" Koyuki proclaimed, grabbed Ji-Han's hand and dragged him to the door two apartments over. There she let go of him and knocked.

"Nara-kun?" She spoke to the door. "Are you there? Can you help me with something?"

"Again?!" Came the annoyed voice of a boy through the door. "What do you want?! You haven't even seen my head yet!"

"That is because I know Nara-kun will always be able to help me", she exclaimed cheerily, making the boy on the other side sigh.

"Past instances have proven that she will not back down until you give in", proclaimed the voice of a woman from inside the room. "It would take less effort on your part to just help her out."

Nara muttered something unintelligible, before calling out:

"Then come in, the door's open."

Koyuki opened the door and Ji-Han followed her inside.

The apartment was rather small, with a bathroom and a small living room with only a single table and a kitchenette along the wall on the side. On the table was a chessboard and on the white side sat a teenage boy while on the black side sat a young woman.

The woman had violet eyes and hair of the same color styled into a single bun and wore a black business-suit. Her eyes were underlined by a pair of stylish glasses with a purple frame only on the lower side.

[Chess Genius  
Lv12 Sumeragi, Shion]

But it was the boy that made Ji-Han pause. Narrow brown eyes and black hair styled into a short spiky ponytail, wearing black trousers as well as a green vest with many, many pockets, gave him a distinct look that wasn't easy to forget once you had seen it.

And that was exactly the problem. Ji-Han _knew_ that person. He had seen him in his own world. Not in person though, just in a Japanese anime of his own world. What's more, not only was his appearance the same, but also the name and other information checked out with what he knew of that supposedly fictional person:

[Lazy Genius  
-Konohagakure Genin-  
Lv42 Nara, Shikamaru]

"Nara Shikamaru", exclaimed Ji-Han in shock, not believing his eyes. What the heck?! That just couldn't be! How could he just meet a person he knew from a movie in Traverse Town?!

Shikamaru, noticing his confusing, just sighed.

"Great", he muttered, "here we go again."

Then he addressed Ji-Han directly:

"Yes, I am Nara Shikamaru. Yes, I am a ninja of Konohagakure. Yes, I manipulate shadows. And yes, I am real. It's all because of the windows. And before you ask, windows are when people in one world manage to get glimpses of other worlds. But since not everybody knows of those different worlds, for them those glimpses are just a product of their imagination, which they sometimes turn into movies, books or games. Any more questions?"

Ji-Han was stunned.

"Do you get those questions often?" He asked and Shikamaru nodded.

"For some reason my world is really photogenic. It's such a drag, I tell you."

"My condolences", Ji-Han spoke but Shikamaru waved it away.

"It's not your fault", he declared. "Just don't get chummy with me just because you know things about me. In fact, don't mention anything regarding me or my future. I've already gotten all the important information regarding Sasuke, Naruto, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Madara and Kaguya and I don't need anyone trying to set me up with one or more girls I haven't even heard about."

"I won't", promised Ji-Han. "If it's any consolation, I can see the names of most people flying on top of their head."

"You have an Iris?!" Exclaimed Koyuki enthusiastically and Ji-Han nodded.

"In a sense", noted Ji-Han. "I can't make things happen with my eyes but I do have some more abilities not connected to my Iris. Still, I do have that constant information flying around only I can see and was actually planning on talking to you about it if you wanted. But I didn't say anything for now since I am still busy at the moment."

"Right", voiced Shikamaru, "and what is Koyuki-san supposed to help you with this time?"

"This time?" Repeated Ji-Han confused. "This is the first time I did that."

"For now", proclaimed Shikamaru. "But you guys always go and ask her to help with your stuff. And then she goes to me, asking me to help, it's such a drag! Can't you put up mission requests like any normal person?!"

"I could", admitted Ji-Han, unsure what to say. On the one hand, he wanted to push, but on the other hand, Shikamaru was kind of right. "…maybe I've gotten too used to people helping me out just because I asked them… even Yato-Nim only takes 50 Munny and I have still over 2000…"

"That's not true", refuted Koyuki strongly. "We all have lost nearly everything when our words were destroyed. We do not want to lose anything else. That is why everyone is always helping each other. Even Nara-kun, who always says he doesn't like it, helps me out in the end, because he is really a nice person!"

"Damn it, woman", cursed Shikamaru. "Stop pushing your expectations onto others already."

Shion, who had been quiet for the whole time they had been here, laughed lightly.

"Are you sure you don't want to support her?" She asked. "Past instances have shown that such a reaction would weigh heavily on your conscience."

"Oh, shut up, siscon", mumbled Shikamaru but Shion didn't hear him, or at last pretended not to hear him.

"I could pay you, if that makes you feel better", suggested Ji-Han. "Or owe you one. I am still trying to figure out all my abilities, but once I do, you should be able to find a good way to use them."

"Alright, fine", Shikamaru finally gave in. "Let's go with the favor and get this over with. So, what kind of people are you looking for?"

"People to accompany me on my journey through the multiverse, fighting Heartless and saving worlds."

"Damn, that's actually a tall order", noted Shikamaru. "If we cut out the civilians who can't fight, most people already have built their life in Traverse Town or want to protect the other people living in it. And Noelle became a member of the TSAB, she can't leave. Have you asked Genos from the Hero Union to see if he could find some people willing to go?"

"Ehehe", laughed Ji-Han awkwardly, "unfortunately, I became a member, too and now none of them can't help me directly like that anymore…"

"Seriously?! What a drag… there is one guy who just recently got to Traverse Town but he doesn't trust anyone, and another who always complains about his job but he is an asshole."

"Shikamaru", Shion chastised him, "you shouldn't use such words when describing a person. Even if it is true."

"That aside, I would say your best bet would be finding a willing civilian and train them for a bit… though there is still one other option if… do your comrades have to be human?"

"Not that I know of", responded Ji-Han. "Why?"

"Then you could always try Count D's Pet Shop."

"That could actually work", confirmed Yato. "Even though D calls them pets, only half of them are actually animals and monsters. The other half are beings with inhuman features but still human intelligence like yokai and demons. As long as they have some form of pet-like natural obedience-instinct, he still calls them pets and sells them."

"The only real problem would be the price", added Shikamaru. "But if you word your request precisely, you would get one who is perfect for your journey."

That sounded like he should try Count D's Pet Shop next. At last he could see how expensive the pets of his were. Would he take a potion as payment? Though he should still have enough time to sell it, if he didn't.

"Were is Count D's Pet Shop?" He thus asked and promptly got the answer from Yato:

"In the Shopping Arcade. Do you want me to escort you there?"

"[Status Window]." Ji-Han took out 50 Munny and gave them Yato.

"Please do."

"Your wish… has been heard loud and clear!"

"I'll come with you", decided Koyuki. "We might come across some people out shopping that would be qualified."

"If you want to, I have certainly no reason to stop you", exclaimed Ji-Han, then he turned to Shikamaru.

"Thank you for your help", he told the ninja but that guy just waved it off.

"Whatever. Just try not to bother other people too much." Ji-Han laughed sheepishly.

"I'll try."

With that he, Yato and Koyuki left the two chess players to their own devices and went towards the Shopping Arcade.

On the way, Ji-Han told Koyuki about his Gamer-abilities, how he thought he first had been hallucinating and how unease he had felt when he didn't know if his friends and family were hiding things from him. In exchange Koyuki told Ji-Han about how she always found the next Student Body President with her Iris, until she became it herself and how she was actually a bit jealous of people who could see the world as it is without any filters. That led to a discussion with Yato about whether Irises did show things that weren't there, or if they actually just showed information that were there but the human eye usually couldn't see like x-ray or infrared-vision.

"Oh, we are here", interrupted Yato their discussion. "Welcome to the Shopping Arcade."

The Shopping Arcade looked like a small, two-car-wide gap between two rows of small shops with a ceiling that was added later on and supported by rectangular columns in front of the shops with slightly-angled glass windows in the middle. In between the two sides hang a long chain of square flag-like paper, going in zigzag from one side to the other. Close to the entrance also hang a giant tuna fish in the air and further an electronic chandelier. But he wasn't lit and instead the light came from the oil and lacrima lanterns typical for Traverse Town as well as the jobs themselves.

As they walked down the alley, Ji-Han noticed that there weren't that many shops to begin with. From the symbols on the plates hanging near them, he could find a bookstore, some food stand, a gun shop, a clothing store and… what was that cartoonish knight on a red dragon supposed to be? Oh, wait, never mind, it said "LEON" in Latin letters below it. And then there was this traditional looking store inside the urban shopping district, making it completely out of place but without any sign revealing what kind of shop it was.

"That's Count D's Pet Shop", explained Yato. "Hopefully you'll find a good companion. I'll have to go for now, I've got a new job."

"Alright", responded Ji-Han, "goodbye. I'll call you then, when I need you again."

"Goodbye."

With that Yato left and Ji-Han turned to Koyuki:

"What do you want to do while I talk to D?"

"I want to play a bit with the animals", she said. "Do you think he'll allow it?"

"It can't hurt to ask."

And so they went inside and were greeted by the noises of many animals. Bird chirping, dogs barking, cats meowing and many more different sounds. But there weren't just mundane animals. There were snakes, small horses and wild cats, to only name a few. And in mitten all the animals inside and outside the cages stood a person, as if they had already been waiting for them.

They were tall and had an androgynous appearance with black Chinese robes decorated with an elaborate flower motive. They had claw-like fingernails and smooth black hair reaching to the chin all around except for most of the left and a small part of the right side of the face. It nearly hit the right yellow eye contrasting with the purple left one. The person also had only question marks above their head, but that made it actually more convincing that he was the owner D, as Yato had named him as one of the two people who he wasn't sure if they were gods or not.

"Welcome to Count D's Pet Shop", the person who was probably D greeted them. "In this store you may find everything. From domestic dogs and cats… to maniac beasts and all those that fall in between."

"Ah, hello", Ji-Han greeted back. "I am in need for a… 'Pet'. She is just accompanying me for now, but would like to play with the animals while we look for a pet, if that is alright?"

"That is no problem", responded D. "All the pets here are well-raised. What kind of pet are you looking for?"

"To be honest", began Ji-Han while Koyuki went to play, "even though I said 'Pet' I am more looking for a companion. Someone to accompany me on my journey to fight the Heartless. So it should be someone able to hold their own in a battle or at last not easily harmed. They should also have human-like intelligence and able to make suggestions and stop me from doing something too stupid. They also shouldn't need any special food that is difficult to get as I am going to travel a lot. And they should be able to work in a team. So, like, not constantly trying to fight their teammates and stuff... yeah, that's all I can think of for now."

"I see", noted D thoughtfully, "if I may inquire further, where would these travels take you?"

"Anywhere it takes me, I guess", answered Ji-Han. "I mean, my goal is to travel from world to world and save them from the Heartless until I find out where the Central Keyhole and the stolen hearts of the devoured worlds are. So, it can be literally anywhere."

"How would you go about saving the worlds from the Heartless? No matter how great your abilities, one can only temporarily stall the Heartless and never defeat them. Unless… are you perhaps in possession of a Keyblade."

"Yes", Ji-Han confirmed and summoned his Keyblade. "With that I cannot only defeat Heartless, but also close the keyholes of the words, preventing any future Heartless from getting to that world's heart. But I don't think I can do that all on my own, which is why I am looking for comrades to help me out."

"That changes things", proclaimed D. "Instead of buying a pet, would you perhaps be willing to do me a favor?"

"A favor?"

"Indeed. You see, not long ago I have come across a specific specimen. But unlike the other pets in my possession, this one does not come from a world that has been devoured by the Heartless. Instead it has been smuggled out of its home world as an egg. Unfortunately, I have yet not been able to locate its home world and thus I have hatched and raised it in Traverse Town.

As your plan is to travel from place to place, I would like you to take it with you, until you find its home. It would not be as sturdy as other pets I have in my possession but it works well with humans."

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Home Sweet Home: Shua

It is always nicest at home.

Find Shua's home world or one with native Smeargles in it.

Bonus Objective:  
?

Completion Award: +5 000 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with Shua.  
Increased reputation with the Pet Shop Owner "D".

Bonus Award:  
?

Completion Failure: +100 000 EXP.  
Decreased reputation with Shua and the Pet Shop Owner "D", depending on circumstances of failure.  
Shua's resignation from the party depending on reputation with "D".}

A temporary companion… why not? It wasn't what he had thought of when visiting a pet shop, but it would get him another companion without losing Munny or his potion. And it's not like any other companion couldn't leave the party at any time for any number of reasons.

"Alright", decided Ji-Han, closing the quest alert. "I'll take Shua with me."

"Shua?" D repeated. "I wasn't aware that I had already told you the name of the specimen I wanted you to look after."

"Ah, sorry, it's my ability", Ji-Han explained sheepishly. "I experience the world like in a video game so any task I get, gets transformed into a quest. And the quest was called {Home Sweet Home: Shua} and had the completion condition of bringing Shua to his home world or at last a world that has native Smeargles in it… not that I know what Smeargles are. But I guess that I'll see it once you show it to me."

"Is that so… than please follow me."

"Yes. I'll be right back, Koyuki-Seonbae."

"See you soon."

Ji-Han followed D through the door behind him. There were stairs leading up, then leading down and then they were in a maze of staircases leading into any direction. And all over the place he could see, not actual animals, but human-looking beings, some with question marks above their heads, some with clearly-readable names.

And then there were mythological beings like a gryphon or a bipedal dragon and humanoid demonic-looking beings with backwards horns and glowing red eyes. There was a little fairy with yellow hair, green wings and a green dress and three little child-sized humans with cat ears, tail and different dresses, one of them even wearing a school uniform. And then there were the things Ji-Han had no idea what they were. Like a white humanoid being the size of the cat humans with a big round head, a goofy expression and a giant yellow drill as the nose or something resembling a car-sized lump of white flesh with stubby legs and a thin wide mouth with teeth protruding out of it in an irregular fashion even closed.

Those and many other creatures were what Ji-Han saw on his way to Shua. And when they finally met it, he also couldn't tell what it was.

Shua was something, one could maybe compare to a white dog with floppy brown ears, if they were generous. But it stood upright on two legs with three toes and brown fur around the angles. Its hands also had only three digits, but they were arranged more like a human hand than a dog's paw with two rings of brown fur around the wrists on each side. One of the hands was furthermore used to hold onto its own tail, which was thin like a cat's, but twice as long and ended in a _freaking paint brush_ with an indigo tip! It had also a brown fur collar around the neck, rings of brown fur around its eyes and the fur on top of its head made it look like it had a white painter's hat on.

[Lv4 Shua]

So, that was a Smeargle. Definitively not what he had expected.

"Hello, Shua", greeted D his pet. "I have brought a guest to you."

"Smeargle?" Voiced the Smeargle… wait.

"He has agreed to take you with him on his journey from world to world until you stumble upon a world where you can find other Smeargle."

"Smeargle, smear?"

"Yes. Depending on how good your journey goes, we might not see each other again. But Traverse Town is not the right place for you."

"…smear…"

"Ehm, sorry to interrupt", exclaimed Ji-Han, "but considering that he can only speak in his species name… does that mean he's a Pokémon?"

"Yes, Shua is indeed a Pokémon", confirmed D. "You knew about Pokémon, yet did not know Smeargles belonged to them?"

"They are constantly new ones, how am I supposed to remember all of them?!" Ji-Han refuted. "I also don't play console games."

"Is that so? Nevertheless, what kind of animal it is, does not matter, only that you will know when you have found its home world."

"Right." Ji-Han nodded and knelt down to get on eye-level with the Smeargle.

"Hello, Shua, I am Han Ji-Han. D has asked me to help you find your home world. On the way we will have to fight a lot of Heartless. Are you up for it?!"

"Smear!"

"Alright! Thank you for your help." The last part Ji-Han addressed to D who shook his head.

"I should thank you, since you are the one who will take care of Shua, aren't you?"

"Of course."

"Then I bid you farewell."

And suddenly Ji-Han found himself outside in front of the building, together with Koyuki and Shua.

"Ah, hello Ji-Han", greeted the girl. "So this is Shua? He's so cute!" She started to pet it and Shua let that happen, enjoying the attention just like a dog would.

Alright. That's number one. He wished he could see how the quest progressed…

"[Quest Log]!"

At once another panel opened in front of him, showing all the quests in a list:

{**Active  
**True Companions: Your Merry Band of Misfits  
Home Sweet Home: Shua  
Buying in Bulk: 20 Lucid Shards  
Central Keyhole: The One Keyhole to Close them All  
World Graveyard: The Hearts of Lost Worlds  
**Available  
**Unknown Frontier: Mountains in the Dayless Town  
**Hiatus  
**Homework: EXP Equals MC Screwed  
Homework: Written by the Victors  
**Completed  
**Homework: Does Everybody Hate Math?}

And next to {True Companions: Your Merry Band of Misfits} was a black hourglass on a green background, which, if he tipped on it, opened another panel showing {3:46:44} and counting downwards. So that was how much time he still had. He still had over half the time, but on the other hand one he still needed to get at last one more companion and it had taken two hours to get this one, the easiest one.

He would have liked to see what kind of abilities Shua had, but that to wait for now. He couldn't take the time.

"I've called Yato-Nim", he told Koyuki. "Do you want to look a little bit more around or do you want to go back to your apartment?"

"I'll go with you for now", she told him. "I still haven't found a single person suitable for your quest!"

"You brought me to Shikamaru-Ssi", Ji-Han reminded her. "And thanks to that I have now my first companion, Shua. So you can't say you haven't helped."

"But one companion won't be enough, would it?" She proclaimed and Ji-Han had to agree. Though, did she know about the bet, yet? He couldn't remember if he had mentioned it in front of her…

"Heartless!" Someone suddenly cried out and the people began rushing into the shops. Not in a panic, but in a more orderly manner. As if they were used to it. Which they probably were. And since they instantly went into the shops… did that mean that all the shopkeepers here were badass fighters who could easily deal with any Heartless? No wonder the people shopping were all to calm about it.

However, Koyuki ripped him out of his thoughts by pulling on his sleeve.

"We have to go!" She told him but he shook his head. Defeating Heartless was pretty much his new job. And since Yato wasn't here, yet… But Koyuki was a different question, wasn't she? She was just Lv3 and he wasn't strong enough to defeat the Heartless and protect another person.

"Go inside", he told her. "I can do this."

"…Alright", she agreed, even if only after a moment of hesitation.

"So, Shua", he addressed the Pokémon. "Ready to show your stuff?"

"Smear!"

"Good. Now… where are they…" But as soon as he said that, they had already arrived. And they were two… Shadows…

"That's all?" He was actually a bit disappointed. From all the commotion, he had expected a lot more. No, better safe than sorry. And there could always be some who show up later.

"Smear!"

They ran towards the Shadows and Shua swung his tail in his hand towards a Shadow, creating an image of a claw that attacked the first Shadow.

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han instantly took down the other heartless with one strike so that he could see how good Shua was in a fight.

"[Observe]!"

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv4

HP: 500/500  
MP: 125/125}

PING!

{[Observe]'s Level has risen by 1.}

'Now isn't that convenient timing', thought Ji-Han as the brown panel changed:

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv4

HP: 500/500  
MP: 125/125  
STR: 5 VIT: 8 DEX: 18  
INT: 2 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

Oh, now he could see the actual stats. And while they weren't that good generally, Shua's Dexterity and HP were higher than his!

Even though the HP got suddenly reduced to {492}, as it got hit by an attack from the Heartless that Shua hadn't avoided because he was busy attacking.

"Run circles around the enemy and attack its back", called out Ji-Han. "Even with your high HP, that's no reason to get careless!"

Shua did as he was told and with three more attacks, the Heartless was finished. And that without any more HP lost. And there didn't seem to be any more Heartless coming. Which was a bit of a surprise, really. Usually there would be at last four Heartless showing up in a batch. But two simple Shadows?

"Did you defeat the Heartless already?" A guy around Ji-Han's age had appeared next to him and asked this question.

The person had green eyes and black hair that was neck-length on his back and went down to his nose on the front in multiple spike-like strands of hair, with smaller strands over his eyes to keep his vision free. He wore black trousers and a white shirt with a blue tie, which had been tucked under a black sleeve-less vest fitting to the trousers. In his right hand he held a straight long sword, with a shiny blade. And atop his head floated those words:

[Unneeded Hero  
-Leon Shop Manager-  
Lv52 Chaser, Raul]

And he had the highest level of any person that he read so far. This made Ji-Han wonder, if it was possible that he could only read the level of people not more than 50 levels higher than him? It would be more likely than any person he couldn't see the level to be already over level 100. It could theoretical happen, but it was still a matter of probability. Did he really not met any person with levels between 60 and 100 before? In Traverse Town where they were so many different people from different worlds? Not likely.

Nevertheless, even if he got new information on his ability, he had still been asked a question.

"Yes", he thus answered. "We took them down. It had only been two Shadows though, is that normal inside the Shopping Arcade? Outside we generally got them in groups of four to six."

"Hm, that does seem a bit low", noted Raul. "We'll have to investigate it. Chances in the behavior of Heartless generally mean something is going to happen. Even if I can only really base that on the increased activity when the Guard Armor is going to show up. I have yet to see decreased activity. That might mean that something big is coming."

"Sorry, to disappoint you", another voice called out, "but those were just my merchandise that has run away."

The person in question was a guy around Ji-Han's age, or maybe slightly older with black hair and green eyes, just like Raul next to him. His hair also went as far as Raul's, but it was a lot more unruly being all over the place, standing up at some points and had even two strands of her crossing in between his eyes. His clothing also was a lot more wild, some kind of leather armor with a metal breastplate and green trousers, decorated with leather plates on his thigh, surrounded by white fur. Rings of white fur were also present where his leather boots met his trousers and around his neck, where it acted as a collar to which a long and wide green mantle. And as if to contrast him with Raul even more, he had no weapon in his right hand, but a small and simple metal shield with a green orb in its center.

Ji-Han was tempted to ask, if they were somehow related but since he could actually see the names on top of their heads, that was a moot point. Yet for some reason, the newcomer was also a hero:

[Disillusioned Hero  
-Hero of the Shield-  
Lv22 Iwatani, Naofumi]

"What do you mean with merchandise?" Raul asked the newcomer suspiciously. "You did not actually plan on selling Heartless, did you?!"

Naofumi scowled.

"Of course not", he denied. "I just have made the experience that shopkeepers are less likely to rip you off when you hold a living monster right into their faces."

Now Raul frowned and, wow, were they looking similar like that.

"Threatening the shop keepers does not work in Traverse Town", he proclaimed and Naofumi snorted.

"I bet I can think of some ideas…"

Both of them were staring intensively at each other, challenging their opponent with just their gazes alone. Ji-Han could already see sparks fly and quickly put an end to it, less they suddenly started to fight near him and Shua.

"But you don't plan on ripping him off", he told Raul, "right?" That stopped their hostilities.

"Right", he confirmed. "The Leon Shop prides itself in its customer service and all our prices are a result of supply and demand and when buying something, we do not offer any less than what we would have offered in other worlds."

"Then there is no need for putting Heartless into other people's faces, right?" He addressed Naofumi, who nodded.

"I only want my money's worth. Not that I currently have any Heartless to show off anyway."

"You shouldn't carry around Heartless at all", chastised Raul. "What if they ran off and threaten other people like they did now?!"

"It's not like they ever did that before", Naofumi defended himself. "All the other times I could walk directly near a person and they would still claw all over me. But for some reason when I entered the Shopping District today, they suddenly jumped off and away. Something had to have attracted them!"

"Hmm…. Maybe it's the Keyblade", guessed Ji-Han as he looked at his weapon. "It is the only thing that can take down Heartless permanently, so maybe they felt threatened by it?"

"That's a Keyblade?" Voiced Raul in surprised. "Yes, I can imagine that."

"Right, I get it, you are some sort of big shot", exclaimed Naofumi dismissively. "Now, can you get back to your post?! I've got things to sell."

"There is no need to wait for me", Raul told the other hero. "We always have at last two people at a time in one Leon Shop just in case one has to go out to fight."

"Is it over?" Suddenly interrupted the timed voice of Koyuki from the half-opened door to D's Pet Shop.

"Yeah, it was just two small Shadows", Ji-Han told her. "You can come out now."

Koyuki did as he said, but then instantly froze as her gaze felt upon the two black-haired and green-eyed heroes.

"I've found you!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, making Ji-Han perk up in excitement, too.

"Really?" He inquired. "Who is it? Naofumi-Ssi? Raul-Ssi? Both?"

"He", she answered pointing at the left one, making the person in question frown.

"What did I do now?!" Naofumi asked annoyed. "And could you stop using magic to find out people's names if they haven't offered them?!"

The last part was addressed to Ji-Han, who laughed sheepishly.

"I am sorry", he told him. "But that's an ability I can't shut off. I see the name, level, class and title of a person floating above their head. Unless they are too powerful."

"You can see levels in Traverse Town?" Repeated Naofumi surprised. "I haven't seen one since I landed here."

"I can also see other stats", supplied Ji-Han. "But for that I have to use a skill."

"Don't use that one me", Naofumi demanded but Ji-Han didn't agree.

"You might are going to rethink that", he proclaimed. "Since Koyuki-Seonbae's Iris says that you are apparently qualified to be my companion."

"Companion? For what?"

"First, I am Han Ji-Han, sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am going to travel from world to world, saving them from the Heartless. So, how about it? Do you want to travel the multiverse with me, saving one world after another?"

"I'll pass", came the instant reply, shocking Ji-Han.

"What?! Why?!" But Koyuki's Iris had said, he would be fitting, didn't it? He shouldn't refuse!

"I don't care for any world", responded Naofumi nonchalant, as if talking about the weather. "They can all burn, for all I care. Just because some random ability said, I would be suited for it, doesn't mean I'll give a damn about it."

"Even your own world?"

"_Especially_ that world!"

"But the motivation is pretty much the only qualification a companion of mine needs", Ji-Han pointed out. "So why did Koyuki-Seonbae's Iris say you are qualified, when you don't want to?"

"How should I know", Naofumi responded angrily. "For all I know, her Iris doesn't even exist in the first place. Or stopped working once she got to Traverse Town. I don't know and I don't care. I am not going to join you just because some ability said, I should."

Koyuki was looking sadder with every word coming out of Naofumi's mouth and once he had finished, she was completely downcast.

"Shit", cursed Ji-Han. This wasn't just the matter of getting Naofumi as a companion anymore. This was now a matter of proving to Koyuki that she wasn't useless, that her ability still worked. He had to do something.

"Maybe I just forgot to mention something", Ji-Han tried. "How about I'll read the quest information out loud. I refuse to belief that Koyuki-Seonbae's Iris gives her wrong information just because she left her home world! Maybe if it had completely vanished, but getting fuzzy like this, in a way that she only noticed now? I don't believe it!"

"If you end up wasting my time, I'll charge you a fee", proclaimed Naofumi but Ji-Han was too invested to care.

"Fine, as long as it's not stupid", he agreed. "[Quest Log]!" He opened the Quest Log and tipped on the quest {Central Keyhole: The One Keyhole to Close them All}.

"{Central Keyhole: The One Keyhole to Close them All}", he read out loud. "{Closing the hearts of each world one at a time is just impossible. Find the keyhole for all worlds and close it. Completion Award: +5 Levels. You will be known as savior of worlds by anyone connected to Traverse Town even indirectly. Completion Failure: The Heartless will continue to devour worlds. Decreased reputation with the members of the Hero Union.}"

"I already told you that I don't care about worlds getting destroyed", Naofumi said derogatively. "And telling me what kind of bonuses you get, doesn't really make we want to help you, now does it?"

Ji-Han shook his head.

"This is just so that I don't forget something, again", he noted. "And I have still another one: {World Graveyard: The Hearts of Lost Worlds. The hearts of the worlds devoured by the Heartless have to go somewhere. Find the location of the hearts and restore all the worlds to their original state. Completion Award: +5 Levels. You will be known as savior of worlds by anyone connected to Traverse Town even indirectly. Completion Failure: The worlds will stay lost. Decreased reputation with the members of the Hero Union.}"

"You really are living in some kind of video game", noted Naofumi and Ji-Han shrugged.

"More like I am a video game character living in the real world, really", he corrected. "So, how about it, any detail that changed your mind?" For him there wasn't really much of a difference between what he said then and read now, but who knew? There could be something he was missing."

And, to his surprise, yet joy, Naofumi actually did seem to consider it.

"When you restore a world…" He inquired, "…would that also restore the people in it?"

"I'd assume so. Not that I have actually gotten the chance to try it out…"

"Really funny", Naofumi said deadpan. "But I guess I actually could help you on your quest. Any idea on how to go on finding the 'World Graveyard'?"

"Not yet", admitted Ji-Han. "That's why the plan for now is to jump from world to world and try to find some information on the World Graveyard and closing their Keyholes along the way to protect them from the Heartless. So, you are interested now? What changed?"

"You failed to mention that you're on a mission to restore worlds. Now I don't give a damn about the world, but when it was devoured, I left behind a person. And so far you are so only one who has even remotely an idea on how to get her back. That's why I'll go with you. If I save the world in the process, that's just how it is."

Raul shook his head.

"I'll be back at the Leon Shop if you need me", he declared. "I shouldn't let Fino alone for too long…"

"I'll be there soon to sell my stuff", Naofumi promised, then turned back to Ji-Han. "Alright, I am guessing these two are your other companions?"

Ji-Han shook his head.

"Only little Shua here", he pointed to the Smeargle, who was curiously walking towards Naofumi, sniffling him, and then jumped up on top of his shoulder, making happy Smeargle-noises to the annoyance of the Shield Hero.

"Koyuki-Seonbae was just willing to use her Iris to help me out." He turned to face her. "I can't thank you enough for that, by the way."

"Oh, no, it was no trouble", she responded. "I am glad I could help."

"Hello! Thank you for calling! Fast, affordable, and reliable! Delivery God Yato, at your service!"

Ji-Han nearly jumped when the god appeared next to him. Right, he had completely forgotten, he had called for him!

"So, I see you actually found a pet, good", noted Yato. "And… oh, you."

Yato became completely unenthusiastic when he noticed Naofumi. Did they had a bad history with each other?

"I guess I don't need to introduce you to each other?" He inquired and Yato nodded.

"Thanks to my nature as a Delivery God, I know pretty much all, or at last most people in Traverse Town. Speaking of, do you want me to accompany you again?"

"That was the original plan", he confirmed. "But now…" He turned to Naofumi.

"What do you plan on doing? I'd think it might be good if we got used to fighting with each other. What do you think?"

"I still want to sell my stuff, but after that, why not?"

"Alright, then, Seonbae", he addressed Koyuki. "Do you mind if I have Yato accompany you back to Chie's Apartment?"

Koyuki was surprised.

"Are two people enough for you?" She wondered and Ji-Han shook his head.

"That's not it", he said, "you can still spread the world out there, that I'll be looking for people to save the worlds with. But I don't think it is necessary for you to go out of your way to help me like you are doing right now. I've already avoided the worst-case scenario and if I depend on your goodwill much more, I fear Shikamaru-Ssi will nag at me the next time we meet."

"…alright." For some reason Ji-Han felt as if it was the last thing that convinced Koyuki.

"[Status Window]. Here Yato-Nim, please escort Koyuki-Seonbae to Chie's Apartment."

"Your wish… has been heard loud and clear!"

"Alright. Goodbye, then, Soenbae. And, once again, thank you for all your help."

"Right. Goodbye, Han-kun, Shua and Naofumi-san."

"Goodbye."

With that she left, leaving the three party members behind.

"So, first was the Leon Shop, right?" Ji-Han wanted to confirm. "Speaking of, we do have to figure out how we handle our money and items…"

"Shouldn't you first add me to the party?" Naofumi interrupted. "Otherwise, we couldn't be really called companions, right?"

"…a party?" Ji-Han repeated, before the words the Hero of the Shield had said, registered with him. "Don't tell me… [Create Party]!"

PING!

{You've created a party.}

{What would you like to name your party?}

"Oh, my god, it works!" Ji-Han exclaimed happily, making Naofumi look at him incredulously.

"Is that really the first time you thought of creating a party?" He asked perplexed, flustering Ji-Han.

"I've had this ability for four days!" He exclaimed. "I haven't had the time to find out all of its elements!"

That was when he noticed the other panel that had appeared:

{Would you like "Oh My God It Works"  
to be name your party?}

"Making my first party name 'Oh My God It Works' Of course not!" He instantly tipped {NO}, making {What would you like to name your party?} appear again.

"Hey", he addressed Naofumi. "What should I name the party?" But Naofumi shrugged.

"I don't really care. Do we actually need a party name?!"

"I'll just go with 'World Salvation Party' then", decided Ji-Han, tipped {NO} on the {Would you like "Hey What Should I Name the Party" to be name your party?} and gave the party the real name "World Salvation Party".

"Now, next… Naofumi, [Party Invite]!" At once a blue panel showed up in front of Naofumi who accepted.

PING!

{[Iwatani, Naofumi] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

"Shua, [Party Invite]!" Ji-Han continued, making Shua tilt his head in question.

"Just tip on the {YES}-button to accept", Ji-Han told Shua who did just that.

{[Shua] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

"[Status Window]!" Naofumi then said and indeed opened a blue panel in front of him.

"Oi", he then called out to Ji-Han. "Is there a way to see your abilities?"

"I just say 'Skills'."

"[Skills]. Hmm… it changed the name of some things... And don't I have more than those? Where is my [Plant Gathering Quality Boost]? Or my [Medicine's Effectiveness Enhancement]?"

"Those are skills?" Wondered Ji-Han. "That sounds more like Perks… speaking of, what Perks do I have? Only the Hero Union one, right?"

"[Perks]!" Naofumi activated and Ji-Han copied him.

What appeared was a grid just like with his skills, but with different symbols. But to his surprise, the black letters "BBS" on the light blue background were just on the fourth place. The first was covered by a key splitting it in half from the lower left to the upper right, the upper left side colored blue, while the other was colored red. And within these segments were two symbols, a sword in the blue one and a book in the red one. The second square was filled with a flexing left arm on a brown background. The third had a caricature of a guy pressing the palms of his hands against each other in a meditation-pose with a yellow fighting aura surrounding him. All of that on a red background.

What were those?

{[Muscle-Headed Keyblade Fighter]  
A special [Perk] given to the owner on the basis of his choices in the Dive to Heart.  
Increases STR by 10% of Base-STR and reduces INT by 10% of Base-INT.}

{[Gamer's Body]  
Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.  
Restores HP, MP and cures most status effects after sleeping in a bed.}

{[Gamer's Mind]  
Most mental influences do not work on the owner.  
Enables calm analysis in the heat of battle.}

[Muscle-Headed Keyblade Fighter]? What the heck? So that's where the choices from his dream went… Still, 10% decrease of INT?! That meant that for every 10 INT, he needed to put one more point into it to make it have an effect. Even with that increase in STR, it still felt like a waste. He should probably completely stop investing points until he needed them and raise his stats through other ways… he already gotten more INT and VIT through actions, he knew how to repeat. Not like WIS and LUK where he could only hope for the best. STR also seemed simple enough, just some lifting should do the trick. And DEX… maybe some stretching? He had to try it out at some point.

[Gamer's Body] was interesting in the way that the game itself put its abilities in as if to explain why he was different from others. And [Gamer's Mind] added a mental defense he didn't know he had. That might come in handy later…

"[Inventory]." Ji-Han was ripped out of his thoughts when Naofumi opened the inventory, or rather, he tried to. But for some reason, there wasn't a panel opening in front of him. And, once he asked Ji-Han, the Gamer had to clear up, that [Inventory] really was the command to open it, even going so far as to pull out a Lucid Shard as proof.

"So I won't get all of the game's abilities", mused Naofumi. "By the way, what is that? What do you use it for?"

"It's a Lucid Shard. I don't know what I can use them for, but I got a quest from Zelretch to bring him 20 of the things so that he can maybe find that out. Currently I have 7."

"How do you get more of these? You aren't in your world anymore and I haven't seen them in Traverse Town."

"Oh, the Shadows drop these sometimes when I defeat them. And yeah, that's a thing you've got to get used to when you're with me: Item drops from Heartless."

"Do they only drop the items when you defeat them or is that at last something that's covered in the party system?"

"Don't know. Want to try it out?"

"I still need to sell some stuff, you know."

"Right, let's go do that first."

With that Ji-Han, Naofumi and Shua went towards the Leon Shop. The inside was pretty much like any other supermarket, with rows of goods on display in an orderly fashion. Next to the entrance stood some chairs, to make a place for weary costumers to rest. And a bit into the room, to the left, they could see a wooden counter with a teenage girl standing behind it.

She was rather short, had bright blue eyes pale blond hair that was put into a short pigtail with a red ribbon, as well as a single strand of hair standing upwards in the middle of her head. She wore a short red skirt, a black and white shirt, with the black part only being a flat-laying collar around her neck and the short, lower part of the stuffed shoulders, separated from the white by a zigzag-line. Her clothing also consisted of white wrist-cuffs that ended in another zigzagging line in the direction of her arm, as well as a red tie. But the latter was mostly hidden under the yellow apron, which emphasized her, for her petite frame, large breasts. But her most interesting feature were her pointy ears, going in a right-angle away from the sides of her head, which made a lot sense, once he read her title.

[Resigned Demon Lord  
-Leon Shop Employee-  
Lv49 Bloodstone, Fino]

"Welcome", Fino greeted happily as they walked towards the counter. "What can we do for you?"

"I want to sell some stuff", explained Naofumi as he took out five hand-sized ovals of green color from the inside of his cloak. Oh, no, only one of the sides was green, the other was black. And rough and uneven, while the green side looked like multiple small pearls stacked next each other.

"Right! Please wait for a moment", she told them and then took out a scanner-like gadget and pointed it towards the items.

A 'beep' and on the register appeared the number {-1998}, then she pointed it to the next, showing {-2001}, then {-2000}, then {-1996} and lastly {-2002}. Together that made {9997}.

"That would be 9997 Munny, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Right." The register opened and Fino took out the colored orbs. "One for 5000, two four 2000, one for 500, two for 200, one for 50, two for 20, one for 5, tow for… ah, no, one for 2."

"Thank you", Naofumi spoke up, took the Munny and put it in the insides of his cloak, followed by a {Thank you for your patronage.} from Fino.

"Alright, I am finished. What's the plan now?"

What was the plan again? Right. Fighting!

"Let's go and kill some Heartless", he decided. But just going around without a destination seemed a bit wasteful. "…but let's go towards the Konohanatei while we're at it. Maybe someone there got interested in joining."

"Sure."

"Smear!"

"So", Ji-Han thus began as they started walking towards their destination. "What abilities do you have? From your shield I can guess you are some kind of tank?"

Naofumi just nodded.

"And what about you?" He asked in return. "Is that key a melee weapon or some magic staff?"

"I am currently using it more as a blunt bat but thanks to my Gamer-powers, I can probably learn magic, too. But currently I don't know any. My best attack skill is the Power Strike, which gives massive damage and an increase of my CRIT for 15 MP. Which means I can use it 10 times before I gotta wait for my MP to recharge. Which is only 1 per minute. So it takes two and a half hour to completely recharge. On my own I was always running circles around the Heartless to whittle them down with normal attacks, using Power Strike only to fast reduce the numbers of enemies.

That reminds me, I wanted to pick up some stones and see if I can get a projectile-type skills to deal with the Air Soldiers… does any of you have a ranged attack skill?"

"Smeargle", Shua said apologetic and moved his tail with his hand, creating the image of a claw Ji-Han had seen before. And then again. And again. Was that supposed to mean, he only could use the claw? Huh, he really did just recently hatch, didn't he?

"I have the Air Strike Shield, where I can create a shield in mid-air. The range is like 50 meters and I can also control it to some extent, allowing me to ground flying enemies that are in mid-range."

"So our weakness is long-range", noted Ji-Han and Naofumi shrugged.

"I never had the problem in Traverse Town since the only enemies with that range were not strong enough to pass through my defense. You might have more trouble with that."

"Right. Let's go pick up some stones…"

He got three pebbles from the side of the road, when Heartless appeared in front of them, one Shadow and three Soldiers.

All four enemies rushed forward and so did they. Naofumi was the fastest and put himself in front of his party members as his shield suddenly changed its form, gaining two menacing dog-heads on it. But then Shua ran past him, attacking a Soldier with a spectral claw. That brought him in range of another Soldier, who thrust its claws at him. Shua's try to run away made him touch the dog-heads, who suddenly became alive enough to bite at him, not only making him fail in his initial goal, but also taking damage from the dog-heads, too.

"Damn!" Naofumi cursed as he changed the shield's change to something resembling a punch of interlocked pipes put together in a rectangular form. At the same time the Shadow completely ignored him, flattening himself and slipping under his feet towards Ji-Han.

"[Power Strike]!" Which was a pretty bad decision as Ji-Han used his best move to take down the enemy. Or, it should have taken it down at last. But for some reason the Shadow was a pretty badass one, taking the powered hit like a pro.

"[Observe]!" Ji-Han shouted even as he attacked the Shadow again with a normal attack. Which was enough to take it down at last, so that the panel vanished, as soon as it appeared, while a {+27 EXP} appeared instead.

"[Shield Prison]!" Meanwhile Naofumi had constructed something like a ball out of multiple shields connected with chains and trapped two of the Soldiers inside of it. The last one had escaped by jumped into air to do its spinning axe-kick on the Hero of the Shield.

But Naofumi was completely unfazed, as he just raised his shield to block him, throwing him back and flailing helplessly on the ground. That was used by Shua who was attacking the Soldier with another summoned claw, before running away again, as if fearing retribution, even though he scored a {Critical}.

"Don't run away", chastised Naofumi. "Attack it while it's down!"

Shua did as he was told, scoring another {Critical} and then another one, dispersing it into the air. Then, at the place it had been before where now not just one, but _two_ drop items. Scrap Aluminum and Scrap Iron, to be precise.

Suddenly another Soldier appeared at the place the other one had been before. Shua quickly ran away, past Ji-Han who did the opposite.

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han activated the skill, smacking at the Heartless, scoring another {Critical} and instantly killing it.

That was when Naofumi deactivated the Shield Prison and, to Ji-Han's surprise, revealed only one Soldier-Heartless. Did the other one ran away? Or did it just dematerialize to reappear outside of the prison?!

Nevertheless, now that there was only one enemy left, Shua could easily take it down on his own, even if just by running around it and scratching at it multiple times. But at last that made his Keyblade and Blunt Weapon Mastery level up again.

"Alright", began Ji-Han after all their enemies were defeated. "That could have gone better."

"No shit", exclaimed Naofumi, before addressing Shua: "Don't just jump in front of the Tank!"

"Smeargle?"

"Don't be too harsh on him", Ji-Han told the shield hero." We did just jump into a group-battle without any strategy meeting. So, Shua, for the next time remember, Naofumi is the Tank. That means that his role is to get the enemies' attention so that we can attack them unhindered."

"Smeargle?"

"Not that the Heartless always play by the rules", noted Naofumi and Ji-Han had to agree, as he thought back on the movement-abilities they displayed. "Just attack those that ignore me, first."

"Smear!"

"Good that that's cleared up", said Ji-Han as he turned around and bend down. "Now how to split the monster drops?"

"What's that", inquired Naofumi and Ji-Han told him:

"Different kinds of scrap metal. Soldiers drop these from time to time. So far I've got aluminum, iron and lead."

"Oi, can I have them?"

Ji-Han turned towards Naofumi in surprise as he heard the request.

"Huh? You have use for scrap metal?" He asked the shield hero and Naofumi shrugged.

"I can get new shields with new abilities by absorbing any kind of items. Drops created from your ability should work, too."

"Is that so? Then you would be getting stronger, whenever we get a new item you haven't had, correct?"

"More or less."

"Then I don't mind giving you any item we come across the first time… unless they happen to be one of a kind. Or valuable. For example, I've got a potion that heals 500 HP. And considering I don't regenerate HP…"

"That would be too valuable to sacrifice for my shield", agreed Naofumi. "Just give me those random things and I am good."

"Then the rest… I hope you don't mind if I just hold onto it? Or do any of you guys need the money for yourself?"

"Smeargle", declared Shua as he shook his head and Naofumi sighed.

"Why don't you just take care of all the financial and logistic matters?" He suggested. "It would be too troublesome to split it up all the time and you are the guy with the inventory. Just don't use it for stupid things, or better, just sell and buy stuff when we are all together. I'll be satisfied with the drop items. But I keep the money I currently have in case I get separated or something."

"Makes sense", agreed Ji-Han, before turning towards Shua. "That's alright with you, too?"

"Smear!"

"Alright." Ji-Han gave Naofumi the Scrap Aluminum and Scrap Iron and opened his inventory, to give him the Scrap Lead, too.

"Do you want a Lucid Shard, too?" Ji-Han asked. "It's not valuable, but I do have the Fetch Quest from Zelretch with 20 Lucid Shards."

"Keep it for now", Naofumi told him. "It takes time for me to learn the abilities from new shields permanently and I've got four new ones. And who knows when you meet that Zelretch again. More importantly, did you get EXP from defeating the enemies?"

"Yeah… but only from those I defeated… does that mean there's no Equal Distribution? [Party Options]."

With Ji-Han's command another blue panel opened, showing the names of his party members, their level and their HP- and MP-Bars. Below where two options: {Settings} and {Kick}. Ji-Han chose settings and, there, he could see {Equal Distribution} being {OFF}. He tipped at the {Off}, only to open another panel of magenta color:

{Party member [Iwatani, Naofumi]'s level difference to party leader  
[Han, Ji-Han] is greater than 10. Activating [Equal Distribution] will  
exclude [Iwatani, Naofumi]. Activate [Equal Distribution] regardless?}

And below that were again buttons for {YES} and {NO}.

"I can activate Equal Distribution but it won't include anyone whose level is different from mine by more than 10", Ji-Han told Naofumi and the shield hero cursed.

"So I am stuck at level 22 until you get at last to 12", he calculated.

"You are a lot more powerful than both of us", reminded Ji-Han him. "It's not like enemies here would give you any meaningful EXP in the first place."

"Maybe", Naofumi conceded. "Let's just focus on our teamwork for the moment.

Soon enough, they met with another batch of enemies. To their surprise it was two Air Soldiers. And to their even bigger surprise, it was even easier than when Ji-Han fought the last Air Soldier on his own. Naofumi just used [Air Strike Shield], a transparent green shield larger than a person, above the first Air Soldier and smacked it onto the ground like a fly, allowing Ji-Han to easily attack its downed form.

And while he was busy, Naofumi maneuvered himself at Ji-Han's back, so when the second Air Soldier came down on them, he was easily repelled by the shield and attacked by Shua, who had no problem attacking the enemy on the ground. Only that, unlike Ji-Han, he couldn't finish the Heartless until it shook off the Smeargle and flew back into the air.

"Did you even do any damage?!" Shouted Naofumi in a mixture of annoyance and surprise, making Shua let out a surprised "Gle?!"

Ji-Han, wanting to see for himself, used [Observe] on the Air Solder.

{Air Soldier Lv15  
HP: 67/75  
MP: 0/0  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Winged Heartless. They fly over their enemies and dive to strike them.  
Their high endurance and quickness make them tough to beat.  
STR: 10 VIT: 30 DEX: 34  
INT: 5 WIS: 5 LUK: 5}

"It's VIT is 30", told Ji-Han his comrades. "Shua can't harm it much with his STR of 5!"

"Stay back", Naofumi told the Pokémon as he repeated his earlier actions, only with Ji-Han as the one laying down the pain on the grounded enemy. And this time it worked, even if it took longer than the other one.

"We need to teach Shua a better attack", noted Ji-Han, earning him an angry "Smeargle", from the person in question.

"He's a Pokémon, right?" Wanted Naofumi to confirm. "Don't they generally get some stat-changing skills?"

"Except Karpador", reminded Ji-Han and Naofumi nodded. "Except Karpador."

"Smeargle, Smeargle, Smear!" Shua responded angrily and with a "Splash", Ji-Han had now an indigo stripe over his eyes, while Shua was stomping away from him I a pouting manner.

Ji-Han wiped at his face, but only managed to spread the color more and dirty his hand. Wasn't Shua born in Traverse Town? How did he even know what a Karpador was?

"So that is actual paint", mused Naofumi. "Hey, Shua, can I get some for my shield?"

The Smeargle forgot its anger and turned around confused. Naofumi just held his shield towards it and curiously, Shua came back and painted over the shield, only for the paint to vanish.

"Sketch, huh", mused Naofumi, before addressing Ji-Han. "It seems like Smeargles have a signature attack where they copy the enemy's attack. He probably did it with that scratch-like attack of his."

"Does that mean they only can learn attacks by copying them?" Inquired Ji-Han and Naofumi shrugged.

"Possibly. Or, since it's a Pokémon, fist learn the attack and then use it to learn another one, forgetting the first one in the process."

"You got all that from his paint?" Ji-Han exclaimed in surprise and Naofumi changed his shield to make it resemble the head of a Smeargle, making Shua shout out a perplexed "Smeargle".

"This shield got a similar ability", he explained. "It wouldn't make sense, if Smeargles hadn't such specific abilities."

"I see", responded Ji-Han. Man, that would be easier if they had some form of Pokédex… maybe he could see that, if he leveled up his Observe?"

"For now let's continue like we did before, Shua, you focus on the Shadows and Soldier-Heartless for now, until we get you another ability.

"Smear!" He acknowledged while at the same time holding a large square of black leather towards Naofumi.

"For me?" Wondered the Shield Hero. "Is that an item drop?"

"Smear!"

"Let me observe it first", Ji-Han told Naofumi less he absorbed it too early and activated his ability.

{[Chrome-Tanned Deer Leather (1 m²)]  
A piece of deer hide that has been turned into  
leather through chrome tanning.}

"So the Air Soldiers drop leather", he mused. "Alright, you can absorb it now."

"Can you hold onto it for now?" Naofumi asked Ji-Han. "Absorbing all of it seems just too wasteful. I should get a new shield with just a part of it."

"That is a good point", agreed the Gamer as he took the leather and put it into his inventory. "Wasn't there a clothing store in the Shopping Arcade? They should be able to cut it up without damaging it too much."

"We can go there later", suggested Naofumi. "It would be stupid to go back for every single leather piece when you got an inventory."

"Oh, right. Let's do it before we start traveling."

"Like that."

"Smear!"

Ji-Han made to continue, but stopped when he noticed a figure running towards them.

"Oh, this is the moment you've all been waiting for", the mysterious figure said. "My debut as a real protagonist!"

(A/N: Actually, since this chapter has been going on for so long, I am going to stop it here and make it a cliff hanger. Please look forward to the next chapter.)

"Eh? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh?!"

* * *

A/N:

Mysterious Voice: Geez, that was mean. I was so looking forward to it!

Gashadokuro Amanojaku: You realize that you'll just be one of four protagonists, right? Just like in your own series.

MV: But this time I'll be in an action-adventure! Nobody is going to forget I am there when I am defeating Heartless, right? I even trained so much for this moment!

GA: That you did. How did you know there would be an Archer-position still free?

MV: Because this is Kingdom Hearts where the main characters have sword, shield and magic.

GA: Can't argue with that. And with the other characters like they are, it will take a while for them to get a ranged attack, making you fill quite a vital role.

MV: Yay!

GA: However, there is still something else we'll need to talk about.

MV: What?

GA: Don't go around breaking the forth wall when other people are around, alright? This isn't that kind of story.

MV: …but I can do the title call next time, right?

GA: …this story doesn't have a title call.

MV: Pleeeeeeaaaaase?

GA: Alright, fine. But only with me and the readers.

MV: Yay!

GA: Alright, now that that's settled let's get on with the real Author's Notes:

* * *

Hey, guys and gals.

Here we've got shown a lot more of the people who live in Traverse Town. But before we show once again their roles, let's talk about the other aspects of this chapter:

First, the windows. In a multiverse fanfiction, you sometimes come across a story that liked to reference a different one in fiction. For example, Ji-Han referencing the Amaterasu from Naruto. And some stories go even a step further, making the reference a plot point, like Tate no Yuusha with Final Fantasy. So, if the references are there and sometimes even important, what do you do? Here I decided to include the windows, ways on how a person can have knowledge of other worlds by literally "seeing" into them. But the "seeing" is so subtle that they do not "realize" the world they see is a real world and turn it into a book or movie. Including, as our Mysterious voice had showed… {MV: That's me!} …the fourth-wall breaking, the ability to notice those windows and interact with. Though since too much fourth-wall breaking would distract, I told her to keep it down within the story itself. {MV: Yes~.}

Second on the list are the honorifics. Some people don't like them in stories, some people don't like it if they aren't there, but personally I think they add some character, showing how a person stands in regards to another. So you can subtly show how a person gets closer to another just with the different honorific alone.

With that said, let's finally get to all the different people who showed up:

First the two party members, Naofumi and Shua. Why those? Well, as our MV noted, they replace Goofy and Donald as shield and magic user. Even if Shua is for now more on the physical side of things, that will change. They also are not fixed in their abilities and can evolve their skills into many different forms running on something similar to video game logic, just like Ji-Han.

{MV: And I am the archer!}

And then there is our MV who decided to join the group out of her own violation. She's going to fill the role of a rogue, an archer with stealth skills who can break the fourth wall and thus is only as limited in learning new skills as her resourcefulness.

Now, back to Shua, he's probably the only important character who's technically an OC. But does that count when he's a canon Pokémon race? I wonder? Nevertheless, like Ji-Han's monster drops, his gender and tail color had been decided on through a randomizer, though his ability [Own Tempo] and nature [Sassy] have not. That is because I thought Own Tempo the more useful non-hidden ability for this story, while Sassy is a nature that prefers a wizard-build over close-quarter combat and out of those seemed to be the most interesting personality to write once Shua got eloquent enough to communicate.

Speaking of Shua, let's talk about the parent: Count D. His role is clearly being the one to give Ji-Han his first companion. And while he normally likes to gather interesting creatures, Smearlge aren't exactly rare in Shua's home world and he's moreover not an immortal yokai, which means that he would die at some point in D's care. I think the defender of animals would prefer Shua getting the chance to reproduce before that happens.

Besides the pet shop, only another business has made an appearance: the Leon Shop. And with them Raul and Fino. Those two were so far the only planned people from Yuushibo to make an appearance. Ji-Han would stumble onto other Leon Shop's in other worlds, but those would be handled by people from other franchises. Why? Because that would be more fun, of course! Originally Yato was supposed to be a Leon Shop Employee until I remembered how problematic traveling to other worlds is for him.

The Shopping Arcade has also a bookstore, a tailor, a gun store, as well as an okonomiyaki stand. The letter belonging to Rokujou Miharu. He's one of the people who would be strong enough to travel with Ji-Han but doesn't want to for some reason. In his case, he literally doesn't want to be forced to do anything dangerous. Kumashiro Maya dislikes having to do anything with the supernatural, Izumi Shinichi would like to help but shares a body with someone who doesn't, Asteria Rena is at the point where she can't keep human form if she transforms one more time, her sister Yuinshiel wants to protect her, Kuro accidentally bounded with Otohime Mutsumi when she thought the latter was dying because of her anemia and Shikamaru is just as lazy as always. However, he is also intelligent so he helps Ji-Han another way, which was his role in the story, similar to Sasamori Koyuki.

Raiga comes from the same world as Shikamaru and I remember him as the filler villain who likes funerals. Funnily enough, he actually got turned into a canon character later on. And since mortician isn't the most common job and well-known job in anime, especially those I've watched, I've decided to give that role to him.

Next we have the Wagnaria Staff, Takahashi Souta and Mahiru, who not only are there as the canon characters to the restaurant, but also to show that people have managed to adapt to Traverse Town like any other place with their marriage. Hayase Makiko is just a random person from one of the already shown franchises so that I did not have just one canon person per franchise. A similar role would have Sumeragi Shion. Besides befriending Shikamaru, she and her four friends are known for being the most people who managed to get stranded in Traverse Town together. Bernstein Kirara lives together with Kuro, Mutsumi, their pet dog, the wolf children and their mother, while Shinomiya Kyouya and the two Amatsuka sisters live/work in the Konohanatei.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	6. Chapter 5: Welcome on Board

**Heart of Akasha**

Gashadokuro Amanojaku: Akarin!

Akari: Here!

Akari: Heart of Akasha, starting now~!

Chapter 5: Welcome on Board

Ji-Han took a good look at the newcomer. It was a young girl of maybe twelve to fourteen years with purple eyes red hair reaching her chin and building an "M"-kind of shape above her eyes. Not to mention two buns on the sides of her head. She wore a white robe with a pulled-down hood over comfortable yellow sweater and light blue skirt with white knee-socks and sneakers. On her back was a brown quiver with arrows and a simple wooden bow and around her waist a leather girdle with a small knife in a holder. And above her head:

[Forgotten Protagonist  
Lv13 Akaza, Akari]

"You don't need to say it, geez", she suddenly exclaimed, making Ji-Han wonder what she was referring to. Then, to his surprise, the letters above her head changed, giving her a different title:

[Alabaster Archer  
Lv13 Akaza, Akari]

The heck?! Titles could change… huh, now that he thought about it, was that really something to be surprised about? Titles showed what kind of a person someone was, so of course they could change when the person changed. It was just surprising that it happened right in front of him.

"It's nice to meet you", Akari caught his attention. "My name is Akaza Akari. I have heard of your plans to save the world from Shinichi-san and would like to join you. Can I?"

Ji-Han was torn.

On one hand, he was glad for every ally. On the other hand, he wasn't comfortable with taking a young girl into a danger zone… But then again, she was still stronger than him… argh! What should he do?!

"Ah, it's a dog!" She suddenly exclaimed exited and ran over to Shua, starting to pet him.

"I always wanted a dog", she confessed, ripping Ji-Han from his stupor.

"Are you sure you want to come with us, Akari-Yang?" He asked her. "This is going to be dangerous."

"I don't care", declared Akari. "This is my chance to finally do something! Not just be someone everyone instantly forgets."

"So, what?" Naofumi asked. "You want fame? Sounds like a pretty stupid reason to risk your life."

"It's not about fame", Akari denied. "I just want to stop being a side-character in my own life!"

The Hero of the Shield studied her.

"Well, not any of my business", he finally decided. "So, what'll it be, leader? Are you going to let her come with you?"

"Please?" Akari asked earnestly. "I even learned how to shoot bow and arrow and trained under Kuroko-sensei how to use my low presence for fights. I can do this! So, please?"

"Fine", Ji-Han caved in. If she felt so strongly about it and even trained so much, he hadn't had the heart to refuse her. And she _was_ stronger than him.

"Yay!" She shouted enthusiastically.

"Alright", Ji-Han continued, "you are an archer, right? Naofumi here is our Tank, so make sure you stick behind him until he got the enemy's attention and deal with those that get past him first. If he's not available, I have some minor defensive abilities. You are also the only one so far to be able to hit enemies at long range, so we will be counting on you for that. Akari, [Party Invite]!"

"Yes~!"

{[Akaza, Akari] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

"And don't forget to use [Status Window], [Skills] and [Perks] to see your abilities."

"Yes~!"

"Alright. Then let's go and see what else is going to happen!"

What happened next was another group of Heartless, three Shadows and three Soldiers.

"I won't be able to keep them all at bay", admitted Naofumi even as he went to stand in their way.

"Got it", acknowledged Ji-Han, readying his Keyblade but not engaging the enemy. As expected, two of the Shadows and a Soldier made it past Naofumi. Another Soldier had tried, but the shield hero had kicked him, redirecting its attention towards him. That left him with three enemies but no matter how much they attacked him, he wasn't even flinching. And then he changed the shield into that with the two dog heads, which started to bite back instantly.

Suddenly an arrow flew past him, hitting one of the Shadows. Where did… oh, right, Akari. The other Shadow was still sliding flat on the ground and Ji-Han ignored it in favor of the Soldier who came clattering towards him. Ji-Han used a [Power Strike] to push it back and knock it down, but it was not enough to eliminate it. Yet he didn't concentrate on finishing that one, as the Shadow that Akari had attacked, was now jumping towards Akari, right past him.

Not wanting to let that opportunity go to waste, he smacked it out of the air with a normal attack while Shua engaged the other Shadow with hit and run-tactics. That normal attack turned out to be enough for the comparable weak Shadow-Heartless, evaporating it on the spot and releasing the arrow that hat stuck in it.

Speaking of, not wanting to hit Shua who was running circles around the other Shadow as it ran, or rather skidded, circles around him, Akari released another arrow towards the Soldier who was getting up, which damaged it enough that Ji-Han could kill it with a single normal attack, too.

He quickly looked over to Shua, but he seemed to have everything under control. Thus he brought his attention back to Naofumi, whose shield was constantly moving about his body, always to where the Heartless were attacking to get some bites in.

"[Party Options]", Ji-Han called forth because Naofumi had said not to use Observe on him and, as he thought, Naofumi's HP hadn't gone down even a bit. While the enemy…

"[Observe]."

{Soldier Lv9  
HP: 56/85  
MP: 11/26  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Heartless that emerge from various places. They are brisk in their movements, and rush into their opponents.  
STR: 17 VIT: 14 DEX: 15  
INT: 5 WIS: 5 LUK: 0}

…Had their HP constantly reduced. Even if it was only by 9 or 10 every bite, if it went on long enough, he could easily pill up enough damage to take them out. And with the enemies not being able to damage him at all, they stood no chance at all. Maybe that was why the Heartless of Traverse Town were considered small-fry.

Nevertheless, the other Soldier made the mistake of going at Naofumi from the side, giving Akari the opportunity to shoot it with an arrow without worrying about hitting one of her allies.

"[Observe]."

{Soldier Lv9  
HP: 43/88  
MP: 22/27  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Heartless that emerge from various places. They are brisk in their movements, and rush into their opponents.  
STR: 17 VIT: 13 DEX: 14  
INT: 6 WIS: 5 LUK: 0}

So that one had lower VIT and DEX but higher HP, MP and INT than the other? Good to know.

Not wanting to get into Akari's way, Ji-Han opened his inventory to take out a stone and threw it towards the lone Heartless, knocking it on its head {HP: 41/88} and momentarily stunning it, preventing it from going after Akari or Naofumi for even longer. Long enough for it to get hit by another arrow while it was standing still. {HP: 16/88}

Ji-Han threw another stone, but missed and the Soldier was now coming after them, forcing him to change back to the Keyblade. Not that Ji-Han was worried as its HP was most likely low enough to take it out with a one more simple hit, regardless of from him or Akari.

However, he got distracted when multiple panels opened in front of him:

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to throw objects, [Throwing Mastery], has been created.}

{[Throwing Mastery (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Allows the user to throw objects at a target.  
10% increase in attack damage with thrown objects.  
5% increase in speed while moving to throw an object.  
1% increase in accuracy with objects thrown at a target.}

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to deliver a strong blow,  
[Power Throw], has been created.}

{[Power Throw (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 5 MP  
Throw an object with strong force.  
10% increase in critical rate.  
100% increase in attack damage.  
10% increase in throwing speed.  
20% decrease in accuracy.}

He even got the throwing version of his Power Strike… wait, that wasn't an increase in accuracy, it was a decrease! Not using that in the direction of his party members then… maybe he should try it out in a safe environment first. In case missing with that skill turned out like his failed cooking attempts and he ended up throwing the stone backwards or something.

He was ripped out from his musings when the Soldier finally reached him and did a spinning axe-kick on him.

"[Guard]!" Ji-Han quickly activated, stopping the attack and throwing the Heartless on its back, before instantly attacking it, finishing it in a single hit. Which gave him {+17 EXP}, while another {+8 EXP} signaled Shua finishing with his enemy.

That left one Shadow and one Soldier with Naofumi to which Shua instantly went.

"Draw one of the enemies away from Naofumi so we can safely finish him off", Ji-Han told Shua who with an acknowledging "Smeargle" used his spectral claw on the Soldier before running towards Ji-Han.

Only for the Soldier to not acknowledge the attack at all and instead continuing to attack Naofumi. Confused Shua stopped, looked at the Soldier, looking at his tail and back at the Soldier who was again bitten by a dog head. Then Shua ran back to the Soldier, attacking him again and again, but the Soldier was still not reacting. In frustration Shua attacked the Shadow instead and managed to eliminate it after two claw-attacks, giving Ji-Han {+9 EXP}.

Satisfied, he started attacking the Soldier again, making Ji-Han curiously use an [Observe] at it. That was telling him that Shua was damaging the Heartless, but only one or three HP at a time. So he went over there himself and took down the Soldier with one strike {+17 EXP}. Man, was their DPS different.

Shua, having come to the same conclusion, walked a bit away, sat down in a curling position and sulked, his arms and tail wrapped around his legs.

"Don't be so mad", Ji-Han tried to placate the Smeargle. "It's not your fault that the enemies have so high VIT. They are around twice your level. Once you level up, I am sure you will be able to defeat them easily."

"Smear?" Shua asked, hesitantly looking up from his knees and Ji-Han nodded.

"I am sure of it! I was pretty useless at the beginning, too, you know. The first skill I learned was Food Preparation. Cooking in a sense. So, don't worry, you'll become strong soon enough!"

"Smear!" Shua declared enthusiastically and Ji-Han smiled.

"That's the spirit!" He declared before turning to face Naofumi. "Any item drops?"

"No", he denied as a handful of pebbles was pushed into his face.

"But I replenished your stock", Akari explained happily, stunning Ji-Han for a moment, before he thanked her and put the items into his inventory, raising the number of pebbles to 9.

"Did you pick up your arrow, too?" Ji-Han asked and Akari nodded.

"Normal arrows don't work on Heartless so I have to use ones made from monster parts. So I always make sure to pick them up after a battle if they didn't break."

"That makes sense."

"That aside", voiced Naofumi. "You don't need to wait until the enemy is away from me before you fire your arrows. I've noticed you hesitating way too much."

Akari was visibly shocked at that declaration.

"I can't do that!" She protested. "What if I hit you?! You could get hurt!"

"How high is your STR?" He asked and got "13" as reply. Huh, so she actually had the same STR as him. Good to know.

"My defense is 93." Holy- "Hitting me is more likely to break your arrows than hurting me."

93?! No wonder these guys couldn't even scratch him. That was thrice as high as an Air Soldier!

Yet Akari was still not convinced.

"But what if I hit your eye?"

"I am the Hero of the Shield. My defense extends to every part of my body."

Huh, really? That was an interesting piece of information.

"But what if…"

"Hit me", Naofumi told Ji-Han to interrupt Akari. "Hit me with a [Power Strike]." It seemed he was fed up with her excuses and decided to stop trying to convince her with words. But then he got an idea.

"Though wait for a bit, I want to try something out."

With that he changed his shield to the Smeargle one.

"If you want", Ji-Han agreed. "But if her arrows break when they hit you, I think it would be better for her to try not to hit you."

Naofumi stopped for a moment.

"If we are just going up against those small-fries, fine", he finally relented. "But if we end up having to deal with a stronger enemy, I'd rather she fight with no hesitation. Now use a [Power Strike]. But not at me, I want to see whether or not I can use Sketch on any attack or only those it blocked."

"Sure!"

"Wait!" Akari suddenly interrupted as he had raised his key. "Don't destroy stuff!"

Naofumi looked at her as if he couldn't belief her, while Ji-Han looked dumbfounded at her, then down at the asphalt below him. He went over to the side of the road into some front yard where there was only earth.

"Is this better" he asked her and she smiled in a blindingly bright way.

"Yes. Thank you." She answered happily while Ji-Han was forced to literally shield his eyes from the brightness.

"What the-?" Exclaimed Naofumi as he, too, covered his eyes.

Akari noticed what the others were doing but got confused as to why. Which was enough for the light to stop, allowing them to look at her again. Which Ji-Han did. Dumbfounded. Did she just activate a special skill of hers? But for what reason would she decide to do that? Did she always glow when she was thinking something especially nice and kind-hearted? He really wanted to level up his Observe and take a look at her Perks but like Naofumi had implied, that was an invasion of privacy.

"Nevertheless", the shield hero ripped Ji-Han from his thoughts. "Weren't you going to do something?"

"Ah, right. [Power Strike]!" With that Ji-Han smashed his Keyblade on the ground, creating a small hole.

"[Sketch]!" Naofumi called out, but nothing seemed to happen. "[Sketch]." Still nothing.

"Okay", decided Naofumi, "now attack me."

Akari looked troubled as Ji-Han made his way towards Naofumi. The Gamer stopped in front of the Shield Hero and, without further ado, raised his Keyblade.

"[Power Strike]!" He shouted and, with the sound of a hammer falling on an anvil, the Keyblade made contact with the shield.

"Now step back."

Ji-Han did as Naofumi told him.

"[Sketch]!"

Nothing happened. But Naofumi looked thoughtfully.

"What are you thinking about?" Ji-Han inquired and Naofumi contemplated, before answering:

"It said I can only use the attack after 3 minutes have passed", he noted. "Which means it did copy the attack. So the copying appears to be automatic and happens when the shield is hit with an attack. But we have to wait to see if it is permanent."

Then he answered in an afterthought:

"And I have not lost a single HP."

"Great", responded Ji-Han. "So we know we now can attack you without worries… by the way, since we are already trying out skills, I want to know if my skills go up if I attack you."

"Sure."

"Okay. [Skills]!" Ji-Han opened his Skills-Menu and tipped on [Blunt Weapon Mastery].

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery (passive) Lv9 EXP: 48.9%]  
Allows the user to freely handle blunt weapons.  
50% increase in attack damage with blunt weapons.  
15% increase in attack speed with blunt weapons.}

"Here goes", he said and started whacking at Naofumi and, soon enough, the value rose to {EXP: 49.2%}

"It works", Ji-Han noted happily even as it stopped rising as he stopped attacking Naofumi. "So they do rise in training."

"Good for you", exclaimed Naofumi. "But I am not going to be your training dummy."

"Yeah, I guess I should have seen that coming…" Ji-Han closed the window and his eyes fell on his other skills, especially his most powerful one. How was [Power Strike] coming along? Just how much did he have to use it to level up anyway?! Shouldn't it already be leveled up by now?

{[Power Strike (active) Lv1 EXP: 93.3%]  
Cost: 15 MP  
Strikes the target with strong force.  
10% increase in critical rate.  
50% increase in attack damage.}

Oh, you've gotta…

"{93}?!" Ji-Han exclaimed out loud. Are you telling me I am literally one or two attacks away from a level-up?

"Oi, Naofumi-Hyung, you ready for another [Power Strike]? I want to see what happens, when it's level 2."

"…fine."

"[Power Strike]!"

CLANG!

"It's now {96}?! [Power Strike]!"

CLANG!

PING!

{[Power Strike]'s Level has risen by 1.}

{[Power Strike (active) Lv2 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 15 MP  
Strikes the target with strong force.  
11% increase in critical rate.  
100% increase in attack damage.}

"Hell, yes! Power Strike has gotten a 50 percent increase in attack damage. I might be finally able to take down Shadows with one attack."

"Congratulation", Naofumi quipped. "Now the smallest of the smallest Heartless in Traverse Town in so problem for you. At last if they don't show up in groups more than ten."

That put definitively a damper on Ji-Han's enthusiasm.

"It's the principle of the matter", he refuted, even if he couldn't actually deny how leveling up [Blunt Weapon Mastery] was actually more useful in the long run. Maybe he should do another run with Heartless on his tail... or maybe have Naofumi carry one around since he seemed to be immune to them.

Wait…

"Naofumi-Hyung", he addressed the Hero of the Shield. "How would you like getting some merchandise?"

* * *

The next time they came upon a group of Heartless, they defeated them all with the exception of a single Shadow clinging to Naofumi. Which the shield hero than progressed to keep under his cloak as they continued their way to the Konohanatei. While Ji-Han made sure to keep his Keyblade out all the time.

How good an idea that was, got proved instantly as he got 1 WIS when he thought about it. It seemed his ability liked exploits. And then his [Blunt Weapon Mastery] and [Keyblade Mastery] leveled up like crazy, always a good indicator he had done something right. Time he had previously spend just walking around, now allowed him to increase his skills, without doing anything else besides having the Keyblade ready.

The only real issue with that kind of training was, that from time to time the Heartless would stop trying to damage Naofumi, come out from under his cloak and attack Ji-Han until Naofumi redirected its attention back towards himself. It seemed the Heartless really did dislike the Keyblade, after all.

Nevertheless, his [Blunt Weapon Mastery] was now level 12 and his [Keyblade Mastery] level 10!

…which came with a bit of a disappointment when the skill had reached level 8. Since he had gotten [Guard Break] at level 4, he had hoped to get another skill with his [Keyblade Mastery] reached level 7 or 8. But he didn't. What he did was messages saying:

{Because [Keyblade Mastery] has reached Level 8  
and The Gamer already has the skill [Guard],  
[Guard]'s Level has risen by 11.}

In other words, he would have gotten the skill [Guard] at level 8 but because he had already gotten that skill through an action earlier, he got proficiency instead. A nice mechanic that encouraged getting as many skills as early as possible. But also sucked because he'd rather have gotten a different skill, one that was more difficult to get than simple blocking. Hopefully more interesting skills would show up once he leveled up his [Keyblade Mastery] more.

Other than that, the only interesting stuff happening were the two item drops they got: Another [Chrome-Tanned Deer Leather (1 m²)] and the squicky-sounding [Brain-Tanned Deer Leather (1 m²)] which was of a white color compared to the black other leather and felt softer. He still put it away in his inventory as fast as possible once he read its name. And now had the desire to wash his hand.

Luckily they were finally at the Konohanatei and thus the best place to wash at. But first things first, seeing whether or not there was a new comrade.

The Konohanatei was a large traditional building closer to the Chinese version than the Korean one with four floors, including the ground floor where every floor had an upwards-pointing bluish roof at the edges. The building also didn't had just four edges but looked more like one had taken one giant block and set it at the front, then took a wider block for the row behind it and then other longer one, before going for smaller blocks again. And in front of the large sliding door was a curved overhang and two traditional stone lanterns.

Ji-Han went into the inn and was greeted by a young woman behind the wooden counter.

The woman had pink eyes and long hair of the same color that she had styled into a single bun and tied with a blue ribbon. She wore a dark blue kimono with a light blue flower pattern as well as something resembling a simple dark red apron, only that it started below the purple sash of the kimono and went all the way to half her shin.

[-Konohanatei Employee-  
Lv5 Amatsuka, Megumi]

"Welcome", she spoke to him. "Do you wish to make use of our services or are you here for your request?"

Request? How did she knew it was him that was looking for comrades? Oh, right, new people were rare in Traverse Town. And he was still carrying the Keyblade. It was probably hard to miss that he was Han Ji-Han after they heard of him.

"I really was just coming to see if someone wanted to come with me", he confirmed. "Has anybody said something?"

Megumi shook her head.

"No", she responded. "Besides Akari there was no one who had expressed an interest in joining so far."

Okay. That was that then. He had no idea where else he could go to see some more people. How much time was even remaining?

"[Quest Log]." Huh, {1:46:50}. That was still nearly two hours.

"Anywhere specific you want to go?" He asked his teammates. "We have one and three-quarters of an hour before Zelretch shows up for the spaceship matter."

"We could go to eat at Wagnaria", suggested Akari but Naofumi shot the idea down.

"Eating is just a waste of time and money", he declared. "You don't get hungry in Traverse Town."

"But we will have to get something for our journey", noted Ji-Han. "With all the other essentials like toothbrushes. For that we need money. So why don't we go to Totosai? I still haven't gotten to see how much worth scrap metal is…"

PING!

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Nice, but he was currently in the middle of a conversation.

"That guy lives in the Rural District, right?" Naofumi wanted to confirm. "It is on the way to the Mountain District which I suggest as our next goal. I think it's in our best interests to level up Shua fast so that he can hurt more than just the Shadows and with just Heartless, this will take too long."

"Smeargle!" The Pokémon in question responded in an annoyed tone. But he did have a point. Still, bringing Shua into such an environment wasn't the brightest idea.

"We could split up to cover more ground", suggested Ji-Han, "or try to see if Totosai has some items that raise STR…"

"Totosai it is", agreed Naofumi. "I don't know how expensive such an item would be but we can still decide after meeting him."

"Right!" Added Akari while Shua did his "Smear!"

"Then that's settl- whoa!"

That was the moment the Shadow-Heartless jumped out from under Naofumi's cloak to attack Ji-Han again.

"[Guard]!" Ji-Han called out, stopped it in its tracks and threw it back to Naofumi, who hit it on the head. That was enough to redirect its attention back to him, resulting in it scratching on his head.

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

"Is it just me, or are the Heartless stronger than before?" Wondered Ji-Han as he took down the last of the Air Soldiers, earning him {+27 EXP}. Had that something to do with the Level-Up he had gotten earlier? He hadn't used his points yet because he hadn't needed them at the time and had wanted to keep them for when he, in fact, did. But if a higher level drew stronger Heartless to him, he might have to change his strategies.

Luckily for him, Naofumi knew the actual cause:

"I have heard that the more people there are together, the stronger the overall encountered Heartless become", he explained. "Something to do with the darkness in people's hearts."

Ah, so it depended not on the people's strength but on the total negative emotions they held. Made sense.

"That explains why we are meeting multiple Air Soldiers at the same time while when alone I had rarely seen even one", acknowledged Ji-Han.

PING! Huh? What now?

{[Keyblade Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Again? Wait, since it had already leveled once after leaving the Konohanatei that meant…

PING!

{Because [Keyblade Mastery] has reached Level 12,  
a new skill has been created.}

Oh, hell yeah!

{A technique to jump out of harm's way,  
[Dodge Roll], has been created.}

{[Dodge Roll (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
A technique to roll into the direction one is facing or  
running without interrupting one's rhythm.  
Rolls to a distance of 1.50m.}

A rolling skill?! What was this supposed to help with? Still, it was called [Dodge Roll] which implied that it was good for evading attacks though there was nothing saying he could only do it to evade attacks.

"[Dodge Roll]!" He chanted and moved forward. His body automatically crouched down and he executed a perfect roll at which point he was standing again, just a bit further away.

"So you can now roll?" Naofumi asked him, sounding condescending as he did so.

"Apparently", he responded flatly. But what was that with the rhythm supposed to mean?

"Maybe it has some other effect when I use it to dodge…" Not that he could try it out now since they had taken down the last of them for now. Except the one Shadow still hanging around Naofumi.

"Let's just get going for now", Naofumi told him. "We should arrive at the Smithy soon if the map is still correct."

"Right."

As they continued walking, Ji-Han mused on just how different the Rural District was compared to his imagination. When he heard the word rural, he had imagined large fields with crops or livestock and small cottages. The cottages, he still saw from time to time. But there were no people or animals living there. And crops? You could forget that. Instead there were large areas of dirt and stone or, in the best case, brown and thin-looking sticks that fell apart as soon as one touched them.

The trees weren't any better. Devoid of leaves, hanging branches and covered in mushrooms, which also fell apart, they gave a picture of sickness that was disconcerting.

"Does it ever rain in Traverse Town?" He wondered out loud.

"Depends on what you call rain", Naofumi answered his question, having noticed his gaze on another dead tree. "I've been to areas where water constantly falls from above, but it does not make you wet. It's like it's vanishing the instant it hits you. That's why even there plants are only dying, even though the 'rain' never stops."

"The poor plants…" Akari commented and Ji-Han had to agree. At last humans didn't have to eat, or they would have already followed. Speaking of…

"Does that mean that whatever keeps the people alive doesn't work on plants?" He asked and Naofumi shrugged.

"Looks like it. But greenhouses with artificial light and water still work. And some supernatural plants like Goldfish Plants and Jack o'Lanterns are able to survive just on water. There it is."

Ji-Han got a bit surprised at the sudden change in topic until he followed Naofumi's gaze, directing him to a group of small wooden huts a bit in the distance. So that was their goal. The so-called Smithy. Or at last, one building that was looking like a traditional Japanese forge, open for them to see. Two of the huts looked like small buildings to live in, while the last one looked like a large shed.

The forge was currently in use as the hammering sounds indicated and as they came closer, they could also see by whom. Yet while Ji-Han could instantly tell the person was a [-Blacksmith-] thanks to The Gamer, at the same time he could tell that the person was not Totosai but a young man called [Arai, Seikuu] with a level of 17 for the same reason.

Seikuu had brown eyes and brown hair that went in a mop around his hair at eye-length, with the exception of his forehead where a large cut was missing and replaced by a short triangle-cut. The blacksmith wore a simple blue kimono with a black belt, both dirty from all the work at the forge. And as for what Seikuu was forging… it wasn't a sword like he had expected but looked more like a spatula… ah, no, now that the smith had stopped hammering on it and, after cooling it down, added a wooden shaft, he could see that it was a going to be a hoe instead.

However, now that the hammering stopped, he could make out another sound: Snoring. Surprised at who would be able to sleep with such a ruckus, he turned towards the sound. Was this perhaps Totosai? Ji-Han couldn't read anything about him, so he had to be high-leveled. Still, instead of blacksmith-clothes, the young man with spiky green hair was wearing a simple white Jacket over a green T-Shirt, black trousers and blue sneakers. Additionally the clothes didn't show the dirt of forge-work, so it was questionable, whether or not the guy was the master blacksmith everybody talked about. Not to mention how he was just lazing about on his chair, his head supported by his folded arms on top of a small school table.

"Oi, Arai-san", Naofumi shouted, getting the attention of the smith, "we're here to sell stuff."

"Iwatani-dono?" He addressed the shield hero. "I did not expect you to return this quickly. Oh, I see, you've just escorted someone else."

"Something like that", Naofumi confirmed before turning to Ji-Han. "What are you waiting for? This is what we came here for."

"Right", Ji-Han responded and opened his inventory. "I had just assumed Totosai would be the one to buy the stuff."

"Totosai prefers living on his own outside of civilization", Arai explained. "If it wasn't for the fact that only he has the capabilities to forge supernatural weapons, he would possibly be gone indefinitely. To follow his wishes as much as possible, I only contact him when his abilities are actually needed. And you do not appear in need for a weapon against the Heartless."

His gaze had fallen on the Keyblade and Ji-Han confirmed sheepishly.

"Alright, here, Scrap Aluminum and Scrap Iron. What can we get for those?"

Seikuu studied the goods, took some tools from his workbench and studied it some more, hitting them with a small hammer.

Waiting for him to finish, Ji-Han took a look around and his eyes met the large yet angular eyes with black pupils of the green-haired guy who had stopped sleeping and had raised his head, but only so much that he could watch Ji-Han.

"Yo", he greeted. "The name's Ueki Kousuke. You new here?"

"Yes, I have arrived in Traverse Town just recently", Ji-Han admitted. "My name is Han Ji-Han. Han being my family name and Ji-Han my first name."

"Alright", Kousuke said and laid his head back down, making himself comfortable again.

"My condolences." Ji-Han turned back to Arai who looked at him with a somber expression on his face. Like the last times the matter was brought up, Ji-Han shook his head.

"I am planning on restoring all the lost worlds. So I am not going to mourn just yet."

Arai shook his head.

"Please do not give me hope", he told Ji-Han, surprising him. "Hope is too treacherous."

"R-right", Ji-Han responded, taken aback. Was it really that bad? He remembered Raiga saying something similar. About how hope would only lead to despair. Would that actually happen? Would people turn into Heartless because of the hope? He wouldn't think so, but maybe he should stop talking about it. He had enough teammates for Zelretch's bet already and he did not want to responsible for something like that.

"Regardless", Seikuu changed the topic as he weighted the items, "your goods do not show the signs, I associate with scrap metal. No combination with other metals or non-metal materials and no alloys either. If it wasn't for the shape, I would assume it to have never been used before."

"It had been created just recently", admitted Ji-Han. "So, what does this mean for the price?"

"Metals like aluminum and iron are not hard to come by in Traverse Town. If we were to take apart the unneeded buildings and their interiors. But it would still be a lot of work to separate the components. As such it is worth more than the name of scrap metal would suggest. I am willing to buy it at market value, 2000 Munny for the aluminum and 15000 for the iron."

"Seems legit", noted Naofumi and Ji-Han took out the other two Scrap Aluminum, he still had in his inventory, giving away all his metal in exchange for 21000 Munny.

Alright, that meant he had finally something in his pocket. Now he only had to see how expensive things were and then decide, whether they still had to farm for items before they could start their journey.

{[Blunt Weapon Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Right, right.

"So, how much does food cost around here", he asked Naofumi who rolled his eyes.

"I am not eating anything, remember? Even outside of Traverse Town I can survive entirely on water thanks to the Fishplant Shield."

"Good idea", decided Ji-Han. "Let's start with water. How much does a liter water costs in Traverse Town?"

"Technically nothing, as long as we get it from a river", noted Naofumi. "How much are empty bottles?"

"You get 300 Munny for every bottle you return to the Leon Shop", Akari supplied helpfully.

That meant, if everyone drank 2 liter water a day, to get by a week, they had to get 2 times 4 times 7, meaning 56 bottles. 56 times 300… that really would be faster with a calculator. 50 times 3 was 150, 6 times 3 was 18, together 168, adding two 0: 16800. He had currently 23750 Munny. That would leave him with… 50… 950… 6950 Munny. And only with buying empty bottles for a week.

"We'll need more money", decided Ji-Han. "There is no way we can buy enough food and daily necessities with the money we currently have."

"So, more monsters?" Naofumi inquired and Ji-Han nodded.

"Or jobs", he added. "But since we still need to level up Shua, we should try item drops. Especially getting 20 Lucid Shards would do great for our funds. Speaking of Shua… Seikuu-Ssi, do you have any items that increases strength just by wearing them? Like an amulet or something?"

"We do have some armor made from monster parts that might give the wearer additional power", the blacksmith responded. "But since I do not have the eye for the supernatural, I wouldn't be able to tell how it would effects the user."

"Just show us the goods and we'll see", Naofumi demanded. "But it's for the little one so don't go pulling out the XXL-versions."

Seikuu studied Shua thoughtfully.

"This will be difficult", he exclaimed. "With his thin arms even a guard would be more akin to a small shield. Generally his proportions are so different from a normal human, he would need custom-made armor to fit. For what does he need higher strength? If it is against Heartless, I would suggest a new weapon instead. Like wrist-mounted claws or daggers, if he cannot hold any weapon."

"I don't think that would work", responded Ji-Han. "He's using a spectral copy of another attack to attack. Since he's not actually using the weapon, carrying it wouldn't really help, right?"

"Wouldn't trying to increase his magical power be more useful than physical strength?" Seikuu wondered, stumping Ji-Han.

"It could be… but… [Observe]!"

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv4 (57.71%)

HP: 435/500  
MP: 125/125  
STR: 5 VIT: 8 DEX: 18  
INT: 2 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

PING!

{[Keyblade Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Huh, already? Hadn't Observe just leveled up recently? Was it already… ah, wait, it was Keyblade Mastery that leveled up. Damn, that timing had confused him.

Nevertheless, back to business.

"Shua's STR and INT are too close to each other", he explained. "I can't tell, which one effects his attacks."

"We do have a lab rat with us", reminded Naofumi as he hit the Shadow under his mantle on the head just in case it had gotten bored with attacking him. Ji-Han nodded.

"But we still need to get his stat to increase in some way, before we can tell if it had an effect or not."

"Then we've got no choice but to do this the old-fashioned way", claimed Naofumi. "Let's go and kill some monsters."

"Right", confirmed Ji-Han before turning to Seikuu. "Thank you for your time."

"Thank you for your patronage."

* * *

"This isn't working", exclaimed Ji-Han frustrated.

When they had decided to go to the Mountain District to defeat monsters for more experience, they hadn't realized what a hassle that was. Specifically, how dark it was away from the common roads. Naofumi on his own had no problems with that, as he had a shield that emitted light, gotten from the remnants of a broken Lacrima Lantern. But as that was literally the only source of light within kilometers, it was harder than usual to fight against the Heartless. And if the monsters gave more EXP, they should also be harder to defeat.

"With the current light we have, we just can't deal with the enemies without taking too much damage", he continued. "We should get back to civilization."

"Speak for yourself", declared Naofumi. "I have no such problems. Maybe we should split up, after all."

"I think you are right", conceded Ji-Han. "If I take Shua into town to take down Shadows while you and Akari try to get EXP from stronger enemies… that would seem like the most efficient way." But…

"[Quest Log]." Ji-Han took a look at the bet.

"29 minutes", he read. "In half-an-hour Zelretch shows up and I don't want to be split up when he does."

"Why's that?" Naofumi wanted to know. "Can't you meet that guy on your own?"

"I am worried he'll turn me into a Magical Girl if I do", Ji-Han answered, surprising the Hero of the Shield.

"A Magical Girl? Seriously? Did you make him angry or something?"

"Oh, I haven't told you, yet?" Ji-Han spoke. "It was the terms of the bet I made with him. I get a spaceship but if I don't get at last two companions for my quest, I'll have to transform every time I want to use the Keyblade."

Naofumi laughed at that. It wasn't a very nice laughter, filled with schadenfreude on the expense of someone else, namely Ji-Han, but for the first time The Gamer could see him finding something funny. Probably the idea of Ji-Han in a frilly dress, waving around a cutesy staff-like Keyblade.

"I am tempted to leave the party just to see that", he revealed and Ji-Han put his hands together.

"Please don't", he asked of him like in a prayer and Naofumi snorted.

"Don't worry", Akari told him beaming, "I'll never leave your side!"

"Damn", noted Naofumi, shielding his eyes. "If she knew how to do that on purpose, we wouldn't need another light to fight!"

"I don't think I can fight like that", refuted Ji-Han. "This is just too bright."

Akari tilted her head in confusion, ending the spell and allowing the boys to take their hands away from their faces.

"Let's go back to the lit roads", Ji-Han suggested. "We'll stick around at the edge until time's up and then, after we've gotten the spaceship from Zelretch, separate into teams of two."

And so they did. However, before the time ran out, something else spectacular happened: Keyblade Mastery reached Level 16. And with it came a new ability: Night Eye.

{[Night Eye (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 50 MP every started 10s.  
Allows the user to see his surroundings  
no matter how dark it is.}

If that wasn't ironic, he didn't know what was. They had talked earlier on how the night of Traverse Town was making things difficult for them and the next ability he got was night vision? Definitively ironic. Unfortunately, the skill wouldn't help them much as it was. It had such a ridiculous high MP-cost that he could only use it thrice before recharging was necessary. Even with his MP-regeneration now 2 MP per minute, something he had no idea where it came from and only noticed at that moment, he wouldn't be going monster hunting in the mountains anytime soon.

So, their plans were still the same. Getting the spaceship from Zelretch and splitting up afterwards.

Speaking of…

"[Quest Log]. 3 minutes left, guys."

"Finally", exclaimed Naofumi exasperated. "Waiting for the time to run out is boring without any Heartless to fight."

"Hopefully he's at last on time", Ji-Han pointed out. "Even if the bet was set for six hours, there is nothing that says that he has to show up exactly when the time is up. He could just decide to check in later."

"If he does that, I'll be taking the girl to the mountains", Naofumi decided. "If he turns you into a Magical Girl because of that, that's your problem."

A drop of sweat ran down the side of Ji-Han's face.

"He shouldn't do that as long as you are here when the time runs out", he surmised. "From what I've heard of him, he always keeps his end of the bargain."

"You are right about that", a known voice suddenly cut in. "A bet loses all its substance if the loser does not uphold to the terms."

"Hello again, Zelretch-Nim", Ji-Han greeted the man with the power to traverse worlds. "Let me introduce you my new companions, Iwatani Naofumi and Shua."

"Don't forget about me!" Akari reminded him, making him flinch.

"And Akaza Akari", he corrected quickly. "They have agreed to help me on my quest to restore all the worlds."

"Greetings", the Zelretch addressed his companions. "As you heard, I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, also known as the Wizard Marshall, the Old Man of the Jewel and the Kaleidoscope. May I ask your reason for joining him on this difficult quest?"

"I want to become a main character", Akari revealed enthusiastically and Naofumi rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath.

"I don't really think that is any of your business", he then told the Wizard Marshall out loud, "but it's not really a secret either that I am looking to restore a person."

"And Shua here is looking for his home world", Ji-Han spoke for the Pokémon.

"Smear!"

"I see." Zelretch nodded thoughtfully. "And I assume you are all serious in your decision?"

Unanimous nods.

"Very well. I have to say, I am surprised. Not only did you win the bet, you managed to assemble a group with such complementary abilities. I say, they will serve you well on your journey."

"As soon as Shua levels-up at last", interjected Naofumi, earning him an angry "Smeargle" from the Pokémon in question and a chuckle from the old wizard.

"Now that you have gathered your companions, it falls upon you to keep them from focusing on the task", he told Ji-Han who took one look at Naofumi and gulped. Somehow he couldn't see him ordering around the Hero of the Shield. Or rather, tell him to play nice. That guy didn't care what others thought about him, going so far as to openly declare his apathy regarding destroyed worlds. This showed itself in the way he addressed other people, too.

To Ji-Han's fortune, Naofumi seemed pragmatic and so probably wouldn't go so far in antagonizing the others that it would come to problems in battle.

"Nevertheless", Zelretch brought him out of his musings, "the six hours have now passed. As such our bet comes to a close with you as the victor. As such I will now give you your price."

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[True Companions: Your Merry Band of Misfits].  
Completion Award: +6000 EXP.  
A ship to travel between worlds.  
Increased reputation with Zelretch.}

Alright! Now it was official. He managed to complete the quest!

Zelretch, unaware of the messages, continued:

"The spaceship is already stationed within the dimensional sea. To board it, you have to say 'Beam me up.' Then you and anyone in contact, will be transported onto the ship. You cannot do this when there are people around without knowledge of other worlds or while you are surrounded by hostiles."

Ah, dang it, there goes that idea.

"To leave the ship you have to stand in one of the teleporter rooms, chose your destination and say 'Beam me down.' A new destination on the world is added automatically when you board the ship and also when you arrive at a world the first time. In the latter's case, the destination is a random time and place out of the way of the population. Unless you are arriving at the world with a goal in mind. In that case the destination is the closest secure location in time and space to your goal."

"Sorry to interrupt, Zelretch-Nim", Ji-Han spoke up. "But what exactly do you mean with _time and space_?"

"I have upgraded the ship with the power of the Kaleidoscope, the Second Magic. This does not just allow you to travel to different worlds, but also to specific points in time when it is most useful to you. This means that, for example, if you accepted the task to defeat a specific Heartless in a world, the Kaleidoscope will set your place of arrival close to the place where it had been last sighted and your time of arrival to the point when you accepted the task, regardless of how long you took to get there."

Wait. What?

"Seriously?" Ji-Han inquired "Even if we do like a thousand side-quests before?"

Zelretch nodded.

"There are only two instances when this mechanic stops working. First, you need the Second Magic, so if the spaceship is destroyed, you will lose that ability. Second, time resumes automatically when you have set foot on the world. You will not be able to leave the world and come back later without the time having passed on. Regardless whether you have finished your original goal or not."

So he could take all in time in the world to prepare before starting a mission but once it was going, he couldn't go to another world for things he might have forgotten. He had to plan ahead instead.

Still, it was a really convenient ability to have, downright game-breaking, actually. He wondered if he had gotten that one had he gotten the spaceship from someone else.

"Though, you do not actually need to teleport onto the world for that to happen", Zelretch continued. "Scanning the world or otherwise getting information from it, will also have that effect."

Ji-Han blinked.

"Scanning the world?"

Zelretch nodded.

"The spaceship is fitted with a scanner that allows you to take a look of a close world before stepping on it. This allows you to set more location as arrival points manually if they fulfill the criteria. The disadvantages are, as I've said, that using it counts as arriving at the world, letting time and space flow normally from your perspective and that, if the world has inhabitants capable of noticing it, tells these inhabitants that you have scanned the world. You will have to decide for yourself, whether you want to use it or are satisfied with the automatically added destinations."

PING! Not now, [Bunt Weapon Mastery].

"That should be everything regarding the destinations. If I have forgotten anything, I've left a manual behind in the driver's seat that you can consult if you have any questions. The only thing important enough to still tell you in person, is about how to get to the other worlds. If you have the ID, the code used for the world, you can enter autopilot. This is the only recommended travel method as even though you can traverse through the dimensional sea without it, it will be too difficult to actually find any other world this way.

But you can stop the autopilot and use the manual controls, or move the spaceship in relation to the course of the autopilot if you feel the need to. Like if you are attacked by space pirates or something."

"Space pirates are a thing?" Ji-Han voiced surprised and Zelretch laughed.

"I wouldn't know, as I don't use the dimensional sea", he explained. "But as there is trade between the worlds, it is safe to assume that there are pirates. Even if only the most stupid ones would attack an unknown ship with unknown cargo."

Considering the kind of people Ji-Han had met in Traverse Town, he had to agree. Attacking random ships was just asking to run afoul of a being too powerful to handle.

"On that note, you should also avoid getting into the flight path of anything unknown", continued Zelretch. "In my homeworld exists a being that looks like a flying saucer when it is moving and eats anything close to it."

Ji-Han gulped.

"Right", he acknowledged. When _Zelretch_, the guy traveling through the multiverse on his own, was warning him of a dangerous being, he'd better take his advice to heart.

"That said, spaceships are generally too uninteresting for those kinds of beings and thus you will be alright as long as you move out of the way", the Wizard Marshall added to reassure him. "And the autopilot guides you around locations in the dimensional sea that are deemed too dangerous to traverse."

"That's a relief", exclaimed Ji-Han. Fighting against Heartless would be difficult enough without some giant man-eating UFO hunting them.

"On a more happier note, I also have taken the liberty to add some other useful features", Zelretch changed the topic. "Namely, everyone using "Beam me Down" will have their appearance to fit those of the inhabitants of the world and will be able to converse with them without needing to learn a new language first. This should make your operations in the worlds a lot easier."

Seriously? There was just one bonus after another with this guy, wasn't it? Apparently Naofumi had thought the same thing, as he spoke up with unveiled suspicion in his voice:

"Aren't you generous?"

"Naturally", the Kaleidoscope responded as if he hadn't heard any of it. "I am really well known for my generosity in my homeworld. People always fight about who shall become my next student!"

"And how many of your students died?" Naofumi continued, making Zelretch chuckle.

"Oh, they don't _die_." For some reason that did nothing to pacify Naofumi. Might have been the emphasis on the last word.

"Thank you for all your help", Ji-Han thus interjected in the topic. "You did a lot more than you had to. Sorry if that makes Naofumi-Hyung looking for a catch."

Naofumi send him a disapproving glare while Zelretch chuckled.

"You two will be better for each other than you realize at the moment. To answer your question, Iwatani Naofumi, I have taken an interest in Han Ji-Han. And the features I have added to the spaceship are things I find necessary for him to save the worlds. I do not want him to accept a mission to save a world only to arrive too late because the travel time was too long. I do not want him to waste time trying to learn the local language when the world is heading for an apocalypse. The same with convincing people of his intentions because he has an alien appearance. He could have learned spells for the latter two on his own but that would take time, when one of the reasons for using my help was, that he could start his mission at any point, not needing to waste years for other things. Is that enough to satisfy you, former Hero?"

Ji-Han was dumbfounded. He hadn't realized just how much thought had been put behind the gifts Zelretch was giving him. And how much was necessary to save a world. He was preparing for the journey but he had forgotten to take into account everything that would happen once he arrived.

Especially the language. Even if he could be excused for not taking the appearance into count because he was used to only humans, even his homeworld had multiple languages and he had gotten into trouble because of the written languages already. He really should have thought about that at last… It probably would be good if he took a moment to think of all the other things they might need in other worlds, before they actually left Traverse Town.

"If you have no other questions for me, I told you everything I felt necessary", Zelretch ripped him out of his thoughts. "How does my request come along?"

Request? Oh, right.

"I am around halfway done", he answered. "But since it's based a lot on luck, I can't tell if I'll get them all soon or if it'll take a long time."

Zelretch nodded.

"I assumed as much. I'll show up from time to time. For now, farewell."

With that the Wizard Marshall vanished, once again in the blink of an eye and Ji-Han turned towards his companions.

"So", he began, "do you want to take a look at the spaceship or do you want to continue leveling-up first?"

"Spaceship!" Akari exclaimed enthusiastically, followed by Shua who raised his tail with his hand shouting "Smear!" just as exited. Only Naofumi had reservations.

"If we explore the spaceship now it will just take longer until we manage to raise Shua's STR enough to be useful."

Ji-Han, Shua and Akari, all three flinched. Ji-Han knew he was right, that they could always take a look at it later…

"…but _spaceship_", he whined, earning him a flat stare from the shield hero. Damn, if there only was a way to raise the stats outside of battle. Though, technically there was but that one only worked for him… right?"

"[Observe]", he used once again on his companion.

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv4 (57.71%)

HP: 411/500  
MP: 125/125  
STR: 5 VIT: 8 DEX: 18  
INT: 2 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

His STR was 5. His VIT 8. His INT 2. Those were the three stats he had an idea on how to increase through work. Raising the INT would be easiest on the account of how low it already was, but studying would need books and a place to sit down. To lift weights, he had to be stationary, too. But not so much for VIT. That one he had increased through running.

So, if Shua ran all the time without stopping, would he increase VIT, too? If that was the case, it would probably be faster trying to increase his STR through training than level-up. Heck, why stop there? Why not combine these tow?! He could get some weights for Shua and level his VIT and STR at the same time! His friend Sun-Il had told him on how that wasn't that effective compared to the movies, but his ability played around with the rules of physics already on its own and then he had met Shikamaru whose friend Lee had been using weights to great effect. Even if it wasn't working for Shua, he could still get weights for himself. There was no reason not to try!

{By making a high number of logical conjectures,  
your WIS has increased by 2.}

Two at once?! He was so trying that idea!

"You still there?" Naofumi tried to get his attention and Ji-Han quickly nodded.

"It seems we might have to postpone the spaceship for a bit", he told the others, gaining two voices of disappointment in response.

"But if everything works out, not for long", he added. Then he told them about this specific part of his abilities and how to try it for Shua. For that, instead of walking, they, or at last Shua would constantly jog around them until they got back to the Smithy where they planned to get the weights. And, if their idea worked, they would then board the spaceship. If it didn't… they had to wait for it. Ji-Han had gotten the others to agree by claiming it as a reward for hard work.

But in the end it hadn't been necessary. After some time they heard the triumphant shout of "Smeargle!" and then they knew it had worked. When they reached The Smithy, Shua's Vitality has risen by 1. Not much, true, but at last that meant that it worked and that was all that mattered.

So they got the weights from Seikuu. Four [Iron Wrist Weight (1.5 kg)] and two [Iron Ankle Weight (2kg)] for Shua. Thanks to the Pokémon's peculiar build, they had to get him two weights for the arms less they slipped all over the place, even if the weights in question were just really metal plates adjusted with strings of leather. And the same build was also what made it impossible to get a waist girdle. The only place they could fit something like that on him was the chest, which interfered with his breathing. A jacket might have been a solution, but, again, they had nothing in his size.

Furthermore, Ji-Han refrained from getting weights for him for now because they were freaking expensive! All in all he had to pay 21,600 Munny for Shua's stuff alone. That had been nearly all of his savings. Luckily they had met enough Soldier-Heartless to cover the cost, getting 11,900 Munny for 2 Scrap Aluminum and 2 Scarp Iron that the Heartless had dropped since they had been to the Smithy the last time. They had also gotten another Scrap Lead, but Seikuu hadn't wanted to buy that one, as it was poisonous. But he did offer to turn it into fitting weights for a fee instead. Since lead was heavier, it was something to take into consideration. But since making them took time, he had decided to buy the normal already finished weights for now.

Besides, Shua was already struggling with the weight as he was. They could get the heavier ones once he got used to them. But he still got the heaviest one that would fit Shua as it was literally to grind STR. He had to get enough attack power to be able to at last deal with Soldiers. Still…

"…are you alright there, buddy?" He asked, earning him a weak but determined "Smear" from his companion.

"Can you walk?"

"Smear."

"Are you ready to go see the spaceship?"

"Smear!"

"Alright then, everybody gather together!" He held out his hand and waited a moment before his companions put their hands on top of his, Shua being the last one thanks to the weights. Zelretch had mentioned that every place they boarded the ship from was automatically added, right? Then what better place to do so was there, then in front of The Smithy, their so far most frequently visited shop?

"Ready? Then let's go! [Beam me up!]"

But nothing happened.

"Huh? Did I say it wrong?" Wondered Ji-Han but Naofumi shook his head.

"That was exactly what Zelretch had said", he confirmed. "So, either he gave us the wrong password or we are near hostiles…" He trailed off, sighed, and then pulled a struggling Shadow out from the inside of his mantle.

Ji-Han and Shua had to laugh on the absurdity of the situation as the former took the hand from their get-together, summoned the Keyblade and, with a [Power Strike], obliterated the Heartless from Naofumi's grasp.

Maybe a bit of an overkill with his [Blunt Weapon Mastery] giving him now an added 105% damage, but if the Shadow was above level 15, he might still need two normal attacks to take it down. And since he could easily take down any enemies with the friends he had, MP wasn't much of a rare resource he had to keep for the most crucial moments, like it had been when he was all on his own. Now it acted more like a limiter on how fast he could level-up skills like [Power Strike]. In other words, if he let the MP get to its MAX-value, he lost some opportunities for leveling-up his skills.

So, while he was not comfortable to completely waste his MP for enemies he could defeat without, in case some unexpectedly tough enemy showed up, he also didn't want his MP to get too high and miss out on some minutes of MP-regeneration. His Gamer-senses wouldn't allow it. Thus the use of skills on enemies he knew he could defeat without. And who knew when he was going to meet his next enemy since he was now going to investigate the spaceship. So, all according to Min-Maxing.

Nevertheless, once the Heartless had been defeated and he had gotten {+8 EXP}, he put the Keyblade away and put his hand on top of his comrades', before declaring:

"[Beam me up!]"

This time something happened. To be precise, green pillars of light surrounded them, taking away their vision. And once they receded, he and his companions had changed locations. They were now inside a large room, larger than what he would thought necessary. It was the size of a plot of land and the ceiling was like 10 stores above them. The ground consisted of multiple glowing white lanes as wide as a sidewalk, separated by parallel blue lines. The lanes led from the door at the other end, resembling two elevator doors put together, to where they stood now, a large magic circle behind them, filling up the whole wall.

The walls were also rather eerie-looking, black in color but giving a tint of color by illuminating support structures, blue on the lower half and red on the upper. The support structures themselves resembled the Greek letter "λ" with an additional stroke going directly up from the top of the symbol. At last the ones on the right side. The ones on the left were mirrored.

All in all, not quite what he had expected from a spaceship, especially ones that Zelretch would give him. But then again, he didn't actually need one for himself and didn't he say he found it? It made sense the ship didn't fit his personality.

Nevertheless, there was only one way to go and so they went that way: Towards the door. Akari was sticking close to him, her hands balled to fist and close to her chest as she carefully looked from one side of the room to the other and back, as if she expected something to jump at them any moment. It certainly didn't help that is was so quiet, their footsteps being the only sounds.

As they reached the doors, they opened in the middle, sliding towards the sides like a metallic automatic door, making the same sound that Ji-Han knew from the automatic doors of convenient stores. It seemed like some things stayed the same no matter where you are.

Behind the doors was a long corridor. To their left was a metal wall for a bit, until it branched off to another corridor while to their right there was another metal sliding door. The floor was glowing just like in the room before, being the only source of light besides some reddish-white stripes on the upper parts of the ceiling. Though the stripes weren't really giving off much light. Maybe they were the emergency lights when the main power was cut off.

"Let's try this one first", Akari decided as she went towards the right and the doors parted before her. And to their surprise, the room behind was actually comforting. Instead of the eerie lights from before, the room was fully illuminated from lambs in the ceiling and had warm white walls. There were multiple beds with white covers in a row separated by white curtains and on the other side… operation tables?

"The infirmary", Ji-Han realized and Naofumi took a closer look at the contents of one of the white cupboards.

"But there are no medical supplies", he observed. "We'll have to get them on our own…"

Ji-Han nodded as he walked through the room, following the left wall. He passed a section that was surrounded by transparent walls, until he reached the end. There was another door leading towards the main corridor from before, but also one at the wall adjacent towards it. As he went through the latter, he was in some sort of side-corridor, with another door directly in front of him.

Going through that one and he came into a large empty room with a ceiling as high as the room where they teleported in. On the opposite side was another door and so was one on in the middle of the left wall. However, additionally to the door there were also a glass wall on the uppermost part of it, as if it was made for the people on the other side to look down on where he stood.

That was when an electronic voice called out [Do you want to start a training program?] and Ji-Han knew what the room was for.

"No", he quickly replied. He could train later, for now they were going to explore the rest of the ship.

"A training program?" Naofumi noted thoughtfully. "I wonder if you gain EXP from the enemies in one of those…"

That was actually a good question and something they would need to try out. Later.

"For now let's continue, Naofumi-Hyung", Ji-Han said. "We still need to find the bridge."

The door lead to another side-corridor with another door directly in front of him, leading to a room which ledges on the walls at waist-height, rectangular tables and, on the opposite wall, a medium-sized cabinet with a comparable large cylinder in it. The cylinder was mostly made out of metal except for the front, which was transparent and on the inside were metal arms with all sorts of tools attached to them.

"What do you think?" Ji-Han addressed Naofumi. "Some sort of engineering room?"

Naofumi agreed.

"Most likely", he responded. "But I don't know if we should try it out. Things like that can break easily when handled incorrectly."

"Right", Ji-Han conceded. "Maybe the manual Zelretch talked about has something about that."

Continuing the tour was now only possible through one of two doors, the first going back to where they came from, the second was on the left wall, leading back to the main corridor. As they continued right, they came closer and closer to the end of the main corridor. All the while on the right and left were large sleeping quarters.

The only exception was the last one before the end of the corridor on the left side, which was a small cafeteria, as far as they could tell. But the real highlight was the room beyond the door at the end of the corridor.

It was a semi-round room with windows going from one side to the other, depicting something like primordial chaos, violet, blue and red streams of circling matter inside a dark void. Below the windows were metal desks, connected to each other without a gap with futuristic keyboards imbedded into them. In front of each of them was a blue arm chair that was rotatable, but still fixed at its location.

But all of those desks were actually a level below the entrance. Ji-Han and his friends were now standing on some sort of elevation with stairs to the left and right, leading to the level below. Yet the elevation also had one desk and chair combination at its rounded front. Speaking of the chair, it was actually with the back to the desk, allowing them to see the book laying on it.

Ji-Han picked up the book and read its title:

{FO Vimana  
Instruction Manual}

PING!

Huh? What now?

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Trans-dimensional Ship Operating Techniques].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

The heck?!

"What is the matter?" Naofumi ripped him from his thoughts. "That is the manual, right?"

"Yeah, right", confirmed Ji-Han. "But I just got a message telling me this is a skill book of… [Trans-dimensional Ship Operating Techniques] and if I want to learn it."

"Skill book?" Naofumi repeated. "So, what? Does that mean you'll instantly learn the skill if you use it?" Ji-Han nodded.

"At last in the games I know of, you've got things that can teach skills like that. One variant are skill books. And it looks like my game now transforms specific books into such skill books…"

"You're gonna learn it?" Akari inquired and Ji-Han shook his head.

"Since I am the only Gamer, I am pretty sure skill-teaching items are single-use only. If I learn the skill, the book might disappear."

"Do not destroy our only instruction manual", Naofumi quickly ordered and Ji-Han chuckled as he pressed {NO}.

"I'll be careful."

Curious he opened the book and took a look at the first page.

{**Disclaimer**

With the exception of attacks from outside, travel with the FO Vimana is completely safe. Its weapon systems, however, are not. Do not touch the operational end of the magic cannons. Do not look directly at the operational end of the magic cannons. Do not submerge the magic cannons in the blood of enemies, even partially. Most importantly, under no circumstances, should you-}

And the rest was unreadable. Damn it. Didn't Zelretch made his himself? Why was there smudge on the page?

"{Do not submerge the magic cannons in the blood of enemies, even partially}?" Naofumi read over Ji-Han's shoulder. "Are we supposed to take that seriously?"

"Probably not", realized Ji-Han. "We don't even know how the ship looks like from the outside since we beamed up. How are we supposed to {look directly at the operational end of the magic cannons}?"

He flipped the page and came upon a table of contents like in any other instruction manual… wait! A map! Ji-Han quickly flipped the book in his hands and opened it from the other end. And lo and behold, there was a map of the ship, showing all the rooms and their purposes.

The ship in general was like a triangle with two wings or arms parallel to the sides of the ship to which side-corridors let. Though as the arms appeared to be the weapons, those were just for maintenance. The same with two cylinder-like towers at the edges of the end of the ship.

Beside of those, they had explored most of the right side at this point, only missing the observer room near the training area. The left held, from the bridge where they were to the teleporter room, the cafeteria, quarters for some more command staff, corridors with quarters for the other staff and bathrooms, a large canteen, some more quarters and bathrooms, and then guest rooms, though one of them was to only to welcome the guests. And probably for diplomatic talks if they were needed to.

"There is a lot of places to sleep", Naofumi pointed out. "Even if we get more companions, you're most likely be set with the ones near the bridge."

"Can I see?" Akari asked and Ji-Han sat in the chair, lowering the book so that she and Shua could see the plan, too.

"Still, that's quite the long way to the beamers", Ji-Han noted. "Do we have to go that far every time we want to leave?"

"Aren't those teleporters, too?" Naofumi asked, pointing at the row of three circles on the bridge on the map.

Ji-Han looked at the map and then on the platform near them, finding three circles on the ground.

"As far as the map goes", he confirmed. "But then why did we come in at the other point? Do we have to change something with the controls? I think there was a section on the teleporters in the table of contents…"

Ji-Han took the book closer and flipped to the correct page. What followed was a period of silence as Ji-Han skimmed through the sentences, ignoring what Zelretch had already told him.

"Smear!" Shua suddenly called out exited, surprising Ji-Han.

"What, what is it?"

Shua pointed towards his left wrist weights.

Oh.

"Did you get a point in STR?"

"Smear!"

Ji-Han smiled.

"Good job", he praised as he turned back to the book.

"It seems the teleporters on the bridge are OUT-only", he finally said. "And you need the permission of the captain. Does that mean me?"

"Who else?" Naofumi retorted.

"Right, stupid question." He stood up.

"You want to try out the teleporters or look at the rest of the ship?" He asked them. "The sleeping quarters will probably be nothing new but I want to take a look at the canteen. And the guest rooms. What do you think?"

The canteen looked actually a lot like one from a school, with kitchen and small tables set in rows. Quite large for their meager number. And the guest rooms were few in number but better-furnished than the captain quarters. Made sense, but it still made them wonder, if they shouldn't sleep there instead. Alas, sleeping so far away from the command center was probably a bad idea. They just had to run too far if anything came up.

Leaving behind the "luxuries", they went back towards the bridge, to try out the teleporters there.

There was only one problem.

"It doesn't say anything regarding whether or not it's possible to beam two people at the same time", Ji-Han exclaimed, flipping through the pages of the manual. The problem was, that they were one teleporter short for everyone to get their own. So the question was, if they could still teleport while two people were on one field.

"Why don't you just try it out?" Naofumi asked annoyed. "It's either going to work, or not."

"Alright, alright", Ji-Han placated him as he sat down on the chair, setting down the book next to the "keyboard".

Let's see. Only half was actually the keyboard. The other, a bit tilted part was a screen. Though notably, the screen on the captain-seat, where he currently was, was a bit smaller than the other ones.

Regardless, the first necessary action was switching the power on… or rather, deactivating the lock that prevented someone from accidentally pushing buttons when they touched the keyboard…

There was a flash of digital symbols on his right hand and his Keyblade appeared.

"Does that really only work with the Keyblade?" Asked Naofumi skeptically. It was one thing making Ji-Han the only one who could bring people onto the ship but making it so that only he could drive it? Couldn't they get a team member for the specific purpose of driving them around?

Yet Ji-Han shook his head.

"I didn't meant to do that", he defended himself and, to his horror, the Keyblade moved on its own, pulling his arm with it as it hit the screen with its tip. Ji-Han tried to pull away, but it was immobile as lines of digital symbols circled around his Keyblade, going further and further towards the head, until they moved over to the screen, sinking in it. Now the Keyblade vanished and on the screen appeared the words {A NEW DESTINATION HAS BEEN ADDED}.

The heck?!

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

The World's Heart: 135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk

Heartless are using the keyhole to the heart of the world to travel into the heart of the world in an attempt to devour it.

Close the keyhole to the heart of the world to prevent it from being devoured by darkness.

Completion Award: +20 000 EXP to you and every party member not from that world.  
The world is not devoured by darkness.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
Increased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.

Completion Failure:  
Decreased reputation with everyone you meet on the world and everyone they know.  
Decreased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.}

"What just happened?" Akari wondered and the others two looked at him for answers, too. As if he knew what just happened… technically he did know _what_ happened, but he had no idea as to _why_ and _how_.

"I just got another quest", he told them. "One for closing the keyhole of a specific world. You don't happen to know a… {135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk}?"

"Do you really expect us to know which world you are talking about by telling us the ID?" Naofumi asked dryly and Ji-Han sighed.

"Of course not", he responded. "I just have no idea why I suddenly got this quest. And why my Keyblade moved on its own. Is my Keyblade telling me to save this world? How would it even know?"

"Maybe it intercepted a distress call?" Akari suggested. Ji-Han opened his mouth, before closing it again.

"You think that's it?" He asked his companions and Naofumi shrugged while Shua spoke enthusiastically:

"Smeargle. Smear, smear. Smear!"

"I'll take that as an 'it could be'", Ji-Han decided and turned back to the quest alert in front of him. Should he accept? He had no real reason to refuse. Except that they weren't ready yet. They hadn't bought any food or daily necessaries. But a world was in danger. Could he really take his time… wait.

"Do you think Zelretch knew that would happen?" He asked the others. "Do you think that's why he added the fixed arrival time?"

"Maybe", Naofumi said. "Or he expected you to take requests from the Hero Union or TSAB instead. In both cases having unlimited time for travel and preparation could be a matter of life and death. Why don't you ask him the next time you see him?"

"Yeah, I'll do that", Ji-Han agreed. "Still, back to the quest, does anyone have something against taking it as our first goal?"

Naofumi shrugged.

"It's not like we have any clue as to what kind of world it is", he pointed out. "But since you are a guy who wants to save all the worlds, you're just going to go ahead anyway, right? Might as well then start with this one."

"Let's save the world!" Akari shouted enthusiastically, followed by "Smear!"

"Alright", Ji-Han said, accepting the quest. Now, back to the teleporters…

It took a bit but soon he had managed to open a list of possible location…

{  
X → Auto-Safe #1  
0 - Back  
}

Not that they had more than one location yet. Did that mean that Zelretch had never once boarded the ship in Traverse Town? Or had he wiped the data when he gave it to them? Speaking of, would they have other worlds already saved in the navigation menu besides the one they got from the Keyblade? Or were those wiped, too? He had to look into that later. For now he just had set the number of times the teleporters would be allowed to use. And put in the password. The manual said that the password for that action was currently "MERLIN" and he was encouraged to change it.

It also said on how to change the names of the locations, which he did first, less he forgot what it stood for.

{  
X → The Smithy  
0 - Back  
}

"Alright", he finally said as he moved towards the last free teleporter. "I've set it so that the teleporters now can be used 3 times before I need to put in the password again. So, try it out."

"[Beam me down]", Naofumi said and, with a green light creating a dome around him, vanished.

"[Beam me down]", Akari followed and she and Shua vanished the same way. So, it worked. Good to know. Then now it was his turn:

"[Beam me down]!"

As it appeared, there were no complications and they all four managed to get back to Traverse Town without trouble.

"Then let's split up like we planned", Naofumi told them. "Akari, you are with me. Shua, don't forget you are weighted down. That makes you slower. Stick to Ji-Han and let the enemies come to you."

"Smear? Smear!"

"Good", he acknowledged. "When do you want to meet again for the first time? Half an hour?"

"Wait, I've got an idea", exclaimed Ji-Han instead of answering. "[Party Options]."

Right, there it was. Voice Chat – ON.

"Test, test, one, two, is it working?"

"I hear you!" Akari exclaimed excitedly. Ji-Han assumed she meant she heard him twice because considering how close they were, it didn't really make sense for her to be so exited otherwise.

"But I couldn't hear Akari", Naofumi noted. "[Party Options]. I guess it was the voice chat-option? Can you hear me?"

Now Ji-Han could indeed hear Naofumi twice. One was his regular voice, but the second one was like from a plug inside his ear, just without any static.

"Good, it's working", Ji-Han voiced his satisfaction. "Then we can just call each other when we want to meet up again.

"That is a lot more efficient", agreed Naofumi. "We'll use this if something comes up."

"Take care~", Ji-Han told them, like a mother would see off her child, earning him a stink-eye from the Hero of the Shield which made him flinch. Akari, on the other hand, seemed to like it, as she responded happily with "We are off" instead.

Ji-Han watched them for a while, until he decided to start, too.

"Let's go."

"Smear!"

* * *

"I am sorry", Akari apologized again with tears in her eyes as she gave Ji-Han the two Lucid Shards that the enemies she had defeated had dropped.

But of course, she wasn't apologizing for that. What she was apologizing for was the fact that their first fight against a monster pretty much ended in disaster. That wasn't to say that they got damaged a lot. In fact, Akari was only hit once and Naofumi had only taken scratch-damage. The problem came from the fact that Naofumi had to fight on his own against one of the strongest monsters in Traverse Town, because Akari had been too scared to attack. As in, she had been scared of hurting the poor monster.

A centipede the size of a bus and Akari could not bring herself to attack it because she didn't want it to get hurt. Yes, as it turns out, Akari was such a pure soul that even the thought of hurting a man-eating insect that could rip her in half, shut down her mind. Naofumi had to literally carry her away from the corpse of the monster before she finally became responsive again.

Needless to say, once the Hero of the Shield found out exactly why Akari hadn't been able to attack the monster, he had been pissed. He hadn't lashed out towards the girl, but he had been clearly annoyed when he had told Ji-Han to meet up with them over the voice chat.

"But I can't help it", she told them. "I just can't bear the thought of hurting a living being…"

"But with Heartless you don't have a problem?" Ji-Han inquired and Akari shook her head.

"Heartless aren't alive. They don't feel pain and defeating them is the only way to help them. So I can still fight with you against the Heartless! ...Just not big animals…"

"And I am not comfortable with leaving Shua without someone able to act as a Tank, so we can't stick him with Akari", the Gamer contemplated. "Looks like we'll have to stick together for now." And as if to add mock him, his own level had increased once more thanks to one of the Heartless that Akari _did_ defeat, when it was Shua whose level-up they needed.

"Let's at last get the rest of the corpse from the Oumukade", Naofumi said. "I have only met one before and with how large it is, it should sell for at last a bit."

"Yeah, let's do that", Ji-Han agreed. "But what do you mean with rest?"

"Right…" Naofumi gave Ji-Han two black objects that he had hanging from his belt like small scimitars.

"[Observe]", Ji-Han used on one of them to get a better picture at what it was:

{[Oumukade Pincer – Rank: Ultra]  
The pincer of a giant man-eating centipede.  
Base Damage: 30}

Damage? Can this be used as a weapon? And would it work against Heartless? Speaking of, since he now could see the attack damage…

He out one of them in the inventory and used [Observe] on his Keyblade.

{[Gaia Key – Rank: Ultimate]  
The Base-Form of the Gamer's Keyblade.  
Base Damage: 20  
Decreases damage taken by 50% when in clearly  
disadvantageous situations.}

What the- that thing was stronger than his Keyblade! …Only a bit awkward to wield… and it didn't have the "defeat Heartless permanently"-attribute that the Keyblade had. And using it instead of the Keyblade would just make it take longer to get new skills. So, not really worth it.

"Alright, our next steps", he declared. "First, get the rest of the centipede. Second, sell it. On the way I want you, Shua, to stay near us and, once Heartless attack, do some push-ups or sit-ups while we deal with them. That should hopefully reduce the time it takes for your STR to increase."

"Smear!"

"Naofumi-Hyung?" He addressed the Hero of the Shield. "Can we get some merchandise again? The faster I level up Keyblade Mastery, the better."

"Sure."

"Alright, then let's go!"

* * *

"Yawn", escaped Akari as she looked up towards the tuna of the Shopping District. "We are there…."

"This is close enough", Ji-Han decided. "Naofumi-Hyung, the merchandise?"

Wordlessly Naofumi held out the Heartless from beneath his mantle and Ji-Han stabbed it twice, evaporating it and gaining {+9 EXP}. He didn't use a Power Strike this time for two reasons. First, he already had used up nearly all of his MP in the battles on their way towards this place. Second, he didn't want to wake Shua.

The little Smeargle wasn't used to so much walking and fighting and had gotten sleepy on the way. After the first signs of tiredness, Ji-Han had taken off the weights of him and put them into his inventory, reasoning that a STR of {11} was good enough for the moment. But it still didn't took away the exhaustion that was already there and after a while Shua had become too tired to walk. And, once Ji-Han had started to carry the Pokémon, fell asleep in his arms soon enough.

But he wasn't the only one who was tired. Akari was more dead on her feet than awake and even Naofumi already showed signs. In the end, it had been a long day for them all, but thanks to the fact that Traverse Town didn't have a sun, it was hard to figure out, what time it actually was.

More than once Ji-Han had thought of teleporting to the FO Vimana and call it a day, but they had decided to make their way to the Shopping Arcade before they used it again. They already cut down on the travel time when they used it to teleport from the forest to The Smithy. And when they then sold the Oumukade Carapace for 8750 and the Pincers for whooping 30000 each – Seikuu didn't had any interest in the legs but took two Scarp Aluminum they had gathered on the way to the forest – they had decided that 93900 Munny should be enough to get some first supplies for the journey. Especially if they sold the rest of the items.

So they then went towards the Shopping Arcade. Since this was also a rather important place, it would also be a good point to save the teleportation-coordinates of. Along the way they had gotten more tired and tired but stubbornly continued on until they reached their goal. But by now nobody thought on selling stuff and then calling it a day. They would rather sleep now.

Thus they gathered around Ji-Han, Naofumi putting his hand on Ji-Han's right arm, while Akari clung to the other, leaning against Ji-Han's shoulder. Ji-Han said the magic words and soon they were on board.

Ji-Han guided the half-asleep Akari to one of the guest rooms, being the closest room to the teleporters. That was, when he realized they should have gotten pajamas or other sleepwear, but at the moment Akari was too tired to care. Ji-Han put Shua on the bed and helped Akari take off her bow, her quiver with the arrows, her sneakers and her belt with the knife, as well as her robe.

That was enough for her and she laid down on the bed next to Shua, promptly hugging the Pokémon and nuzzling into its fur like it was a stuffed animal. Shua meanwhile, responded in kind, coiling its tail around her waist and pulling her close.

Ji-Han froze for a second at the development and then just chuckled, pulling the bed cover over both of them.

Damn, he wished he had a camera… wait.

Ji-Han put his hand into the pocket and took out his smartphone. So he still had that. But no signal, naturally. And it was only at 22%. He should see if it was possible to recharge it in Traverse Town. But for his current purposes that was enough.

He quickly snapped a photo, then quietly left the room. Naofumi had already vanished, probably into a room of his own. Something he should also do. So, he shut down the smartphone, put it into his inventory and went into a room nearby.

"Man, what a day", he mused as he laid on his bed.

So much had happened this day. He had met the Seeker of Truth, his world had been destroyed, sending him in Traverse Town where he met a bunch of more people, fought against monsters and found out he was the only one able to save the worlds with the special weapon that he suddenly could use. He assembled a team, got his very own spaceship and was now preparing a journey into the unknown. His normal everyday life suddenly turned into a fantastic adventure. And he would be lying, if he said, he wasn't looking forward to it.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

D'aww, aren't Akari and Shua just precious?

And here we've got the other advantages of Zelretch being the one giving the means for the travel between the worlds: The Kaleidoscope, replacing Donald's role of supplying disguises as well as adding an actual Take your Time mechanic that doubles as an explanation for why Ji-Han would always be in the correct time and space to do stuff. After all, the journey is not instantly and so they otherwise might be too late to help. This way they reach a world exactly when the world asked for their help. Or at last, the next time they get to the console of the spaceship. And it also prevents having to choose between multiple worlds asking for help at the same time. That it allows me to implement video game mechanics from canon Kingdom Hearts in a realistic fashion is a nice bonus.

Now onto the newly shown denizens of Traverse Town: Megumi, Arai, Totosai and Ueki. Ueki is one other person who is too lazy to join Ji-Han but is actually strong. Instead he sticks around The Smithy to protect Arai while Totosai is out. Even the threat of Heartless does not make him change his aversion for civilization, but since he was once the only one in Traverse Town able to make weapons capable of hurting the Heartless, staying away completely would have meant leaving the rest to die. Something I felt he wouldn't do. So most of the weapon you see being used in Traverse Town are made by him, especially those being used by people who didn't had weapons in their canon. Arai who does not like to make weapons in his canon, would in my opinion have less of a problem in Traverse Town thanks to the fact that the targets are literally heartless monsters. But he's still not making them, because he doesn't have the know-how. Instead he's making armor additionally to the tools he normally makes. Megumi I've already hinted on in the last chapter as a friend of Shion.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	7. Chapter 6: Munny, Munny, Munny

**Heart of Akasha**

Gashadokuro Amanojaku: Akarin!

Akari: Here!

Akari: Heart of Akasha, starting now~!

Chapter 6: Munny, Munny, Munny

{You have slept for eight hours in a comfortable bed.  
Your HP and MP have been fully restored.}

Ji-Han stretched. Man, that was a good-night's sleep. He wondered if the others were still asleep or not. Though he didn't want to check less he accidentally walked in on Akari changing… not that they had any clothes Akari could change into. And neither did he. The guestrooms had each their own personal bathroom with towels so at last he could refresh himself… or so he thought. But the bathroom was hardly more than a toilet, a hand dryer and a rectangular niche next to it.

What was that supposed to be?

"[Inventory]", he said, took out the manual and opened it on the part for Sanitary Equipment. As it turned out, only one guestroom had an actual bathtub, the one he had put Akari and Shua to bed in. The others had the same equipment as the quarters of the staff and command: Magical showers. He only needed to step in and then magic would remove any dirt and germs from his body within seconds. The same with the hand dryer. So, cleaning but not refreshing.

With a sigh, he put the manual away, undressed, stepped into the "shower" and watched as a magic circle sprung to life below his feet and went up to the ceiling. Once it was finished, he stepped out, dressed himself and then went to the canteen. The bed had been made magically, too and so he had nothing left to do in the room. Better to go to a place where people could find him easily while he began to prepare for the day ahead.

For that he opened the inventory again and took a look at the things they had. He had a total of 15 Lucid Shards, leaving him still 5 short from the quota. And then he needed one more to give to Naofumi to absorb. Then there also was the deer leather they planned to sell at Michiru and Mitsuyo. With all the Air Soldiers they had defeated, he had currently 4 Chrome-Tanned and 1 Brain-Tanned Deer Leather in his inventory, additionally with 2 Vegetable-Tanned Deer Leather. That should give them some more money.

Opposite to the 27 Oumukade Legs that Seikuu hadn't wanted and thus they could only pawn off at the Leon Shop, meaning that they could not expect to get the full value. At last they wouldn't need to get any more meat for a while. 1.058 ton would be enough to get them through months… or at last Shua and Naofumi. He and Akari wouldn't be able to eat only centipede meat all the time. Shua as an omnivorous Pokémon wasn't picky and Naofumi could survive entirely on water. But even if they were alright with that and his Gamer's Body would probably make eating unnecessary, he still wanted to eat and with variety. Not to mention that Akari was a growing girl and thus should get as much variety as possible.

But what they really needed to get was more clothing. Ji-Han had literally nothing more than the ones he was currently wearing and different occasions needed different clothes. He would have to check with the others if they had some at the place they had been living before... maybe it would be better to check what the others had before going shopping. Maybe they also had a spare toothbrush or something. And toothpaste. And soap… wait, would they even need soap? They had the magical cleaning gadgets. Speaking of, would they even need to brush their teeth or did that automatically happen when he showered? He couldn't imagine them having no magical teeth cleaning when they already had things like that. Maybe before he decided on what to get, he should first look through the manual and see what they would actually need and what wasn't taken care of by some magical device. And he should get some paper to make a list. He was bound to be forgetting something when he didn't keep track of it that way.

Ji-Han sighed and closed the inventory. It didn't make sense to try to note what they needed without something to write. Maybe he should train until the others got awake… speaking of…

"[Hidden Key]!" Ji-Han summoned his Keyblade and activated the skill he had gotten when Keyblade Mastery had reached Level 20. Hidden Key was so far the second skill after Night Eye that he had gotten that had a cost over time and stayed activated until he deactivated it. Once he started that and then every 10 seconds, it would automatically take 30 MP from his MP-bar.

"[Status Window]", he followed thus up to keep a watch on his MP.

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv7  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 400/400  
MP: 170/200

STR: 15 (14+1) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 12 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 16 ← (+0) →  
INT: 9 ← (+0) →  
WIS: 12 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 13 ← (+0) →

Points: 15  
Munny: 93 900}

Right, that reminded him, he did get 2 STR the day before when he was carrying Shua, didn't he? And he had still his weights, so he could train both his STR and VIT at the same time. Though, to be fair, he could hardly train anything else. His INT was the lowest, but to increase that one he first had to get something to study and most skills needed MP or a target. The only exceptions was Dodge Roll. {MP: 140/200}

"Oh! [Hidden Key]!"

Ji-Han quickly deactivated the skill. He didn't want to get too low on HP. Hidden Key's only purpose was to reduce the presence of his Keyblade, resulting in Heartless ignoring him. Useful for stealth-operations but not for grinding. And here in the Spaceship FO Vimana, there were no Heartless, so it made hardly any sense to use it. But he did it anyway for the same reason he sometimes used Power Strike on weak enemies: To get his MP-regeneration starting. And he didn't want to use Power Strike at the moment in case the others were still sleeping.

Having done that step, he took out the weights from his inventory and strapped them all on his limbs. Not that it could really compare to carrying their owner but it was definitively easier to run with those than when carrying a large object. There was a reason why only his STR and not his VIT had increased at that point.

His preparations finished, he went towards the training area, right opposite the canteen. Though since he was coming in from the main entrance, he first got into some sort of entrance room whose only features were a spiral staircase on the left and a fireman's pole on the right, leading to and from the observation room above.

But since he wasn't currently interested in watching, he ignored them and went towards the next door, the one to the actual training area. Yet as he approached it, some kind of holographic message appeared in front of him, a striking yellow color different from any his Gamer-ability had previously created.

{WARNING!  
Training Room currently in use.  
Training Mode: Survival  
Do you wish to join the training?}

It took a moment for him to realize that the message was not from his ability but from the ship. Because he had no idea what was currently going on, he just said "no". To his surprise, the door still opened, allowing him to take a look inside.

There was Naofumi, being bombarded by short laser-like lights originating from flying metallic spheres surrounded by a green barrier. But none of them actually hit. The Hero of the Shield ran around, ducked, jumped and moved his shield all over his body to evade or block each and every one of them.

Ji-Han stepped into the room and was suddenly assaulted by the sound of Naofumi's movements and the robot's fire. That was, when the Hero of the Shield summoned his [Air Strike Shield] and slammed half of the robots on the ground while he used the same summoned shield as a stepping stone to reach another flying robot.

It shot at him, but Naofumi had already moved his real shield to the front and changed it two dog heads. As the robot hit the shield, it was already in range of the dog heads, which bit down on it in revenge. Or at last, they tried to. But they teeth clashed together without hitting anything, going through the robot without resistance. Yet it vanished all the same.

Naofumi landed on the ground, rolled forward and turned around. His eyes met Ji-Han's but he quickly ignored the Gamer in favor of the rest of the robots who were now shooting at him. Yet, once again, futilely. However, suddenly behind Naofumi a robot materialized and shot at him from his blind spot. However, as if he knew it was coming, the hero turned around and put his shield and put it in the way of the attack before ducking out of the way and spinning around to face attacks from the old ones.

Ji-Han didn't knew how long he had watched Naofumi as he evaded, blocked and destroyed only for another robot to appear, but then with a "DING!" all the robots and even the laser bullets still in flight vanished, followed by a mechanic voice:

[You have completed the training program. Your score is 160 points. Do you want the detailed report?]

"Yes", Naofumi answered and in front of him a hologram with statistics appeared.

"How did you do, Naofumi-Hyung?" Ji-Han inquired curiously and Naofumi snorted.

"I had ten enemies on the second-easiest difficulty in my specialty. You tell me. For now I had just been testing the waters. We'll see how good I really am once I do [Escort] instead of [Survival]."

"You are amazing, Naofumi-Hyung", Ji-Han told the Hero of the Shield honestly, "you already know so much about the training system without even the manual to help you."

Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"I just had to choose the options step by step", he explained. "Even a child could have done that."

"…right", Ji-Han responded embarrassed and Naofumi closed the hologram in front of him, before turning to Ji-Han.

"What are your plans for today?" He asked him.

"First, I want to get some pen and paper so that I can write down what we need", he responded. "And then I want to go to your living places and get what you have. The rest depends on how many things we still need."

"I do not own much, so I won't be needing your Inventory", Naofumi mused. "I can get them while you are going with Akari or shopping or what else."

"But then we won't be setting your home as fast-travel", Ji-Han pointed out. "You still okay with that, Naofumi-Hyung?"

"It's just a random place", he noted. "I don't care much about it. And even if, can't you just scan Traverse Town from orbit and set the destination manually?"

"You are right!" Ji-Han realized. "Do you want me to try that right now?"

"You should try to add landmarks first, like the Konohanatei", Naofumi told him "That's where Akari had lived before. I'll just go on foot for now. If you're still not finished by the time I get to the Shopping Arcade, I'll go buy some pen and paper and start the list. Just give me 5000 Munny and I'll go."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han and did as he was told. "I'll see you later then."

And so they went their separate ways, Naofumi to the teleporter room in the back, Ji-Han to the bridge. The Gamer sat down on the chair reserved for the commanding officer and pulled out the manual.

"Let's see…"

Setting up a new teleportation point was a lot more complicated than just choosing one. Already the first step, scanning the world, forced him to stand up and go to one of the seats below. Scanning a world was just not the job of the captain but of one of the other members of the staff. This really was a spaceship made for multiple people working together. He just hoped that he didn't need to jump from seat to seat and could do everything from this one.

With the book guiding him through the steps, he soon brought up a picture of Traverse Town in the middle of the big screen. As in, the whole Traverse Town, even the places where people didn't live. Did that mean he could theoretically do the job for exploring the mapping of Traverse Town without standing up from this seat? Thoughts for now he did some more steps and the teleportation points were highlighted on the picture. Now he took out the map of Traverse Town.

Since the Shopping Arcade is there and The Smithy there… that means the Konohanatei has to be around there…

Ji-Han zoomed into the picture and moved it around until he managed to get to the right place.

"Wow! It's the Konohanatei!" Akari suddenly exclaimed, making him turn sharply towards her. He hadn't noticed her coming in!

Akari, noticing him staring at her, quickly greeted him:

"Good morning, Han-san. What are you doing?"

"Ah, hello, Akari-Yang", he responded. "I am adding new points to teleport to. That way we can travel around faster."

"It took a lot of time yesterday", Akari agreed. "And we won't have to fight so much."

"Only that currently we are still trying to get Shua to level up", Ji-Han reminded her. "Speaking of, where is he? Is he still asleep?"

Akari shook her head.

"He's painting the ship", she reported, making Ji-Han raise an eyebrow. Sure, he's got a paint brush for a tail but paining the ship? For what reason? The corridors weren't well lit in the first place so would they really be able to see any of the pictures he drew? Ji-Han activated the voice chat and began to speak:

"Shua? You there? We are currently on the bridge. Come on over when you are finished."

It took a bit, but sure enough, an answer came in the form of a "Smear!"

"Alright." Then he addressed Akari directly:

"Once Shua is here, we are going to the Konohanatei and get all of your belongings, alright?"

"Yes!"

Good. Back to the task at hand, now he just needed to add the location into the list…

…

…

…

…

…and done. Then renaming it and voila! One fast-travel completed. Though Shua still wasn't here. So, since he was already at it…

"…what other locations should I add?" He asked out loud.

"Oh, oh, how about The Hospital?" Akari suggested enthusiastically and Ji-Han agreed. That was definitively something he should add. And afterwards he'd go with the White Ant if Shua wasn't finished yet. And Chie's Apartment Building. He still owned Shikamaru that favor, after all.

Akari certainly had a lot of fun watching him move the picture around to the different locations. It was a bit like sightseeing, actually. He also found the Tokyo Tower there, only for Akari to tell him that it was actually just one of two Tokyo Towers within Traverse Town, the so-called Tokyo Tower A.

Not the most impressive name, but it wasn't like he had any better idea.

But even with the distractions they managed to set up all the three planned points before Shua showed up and painted two big stripes on the two sides of the entrance.

"Working hard?" Ji-Han asked, earning him a happy "Smear"! Then Shua went towards him, looking at him expectantly.

"Are you finished?"

"Smear!"

"Alright. Then let's go."

* * *

"You sure took your time", Naofumi voiced as the three walked into the Leon Shop. He stood up from one of the chairs near the entrance and handed Ji-Han 1040 Munny, two Ballpoint Pens, a College Block, a loose piece of paper, as well as one Scrap Aluminum and one Scrap Lead.

"Sorry", Ji-Han responded as he put the metal items into his inventory. "After we got all her belongings we had to cancel her room. That took a lot more time than expected." On the plus-side, Akari had donated the rest of her money, 2584 Munny, to their funds.

Ji-Han looked at the list Naofumi had prepared for him. Food, medical supplies or a healing ability, and clothes for every occasion were a must, while more clothes, weapons, armor, weights, spell books, study materials and cleaning tools were put in as optional.

"Are you sure that is all we need?" He asked. "And so many things are optional?"

"No Shampoo?" Added Akari. "Or Games?"

"Everything not on that list is either provided by the ship or a luxury", Naofumi responded. "You can add to the list what you want but it will just delay until we can depart."

"So the showers do come with a tooth brushing feature?" Ji-Han inquired and Naofumi shrugged.

"Would that even matter? Akari's the only one of us who actually needs one and she lived in the Konohanatei. She should already have one."

Ji-Han still decided to check the manual on this one just in case. He still had to check the manual for the other stuff, so he could do that while he was already at it.

As it turned out, the showers were indeed made to clean the teeth while one was using them. And the clothes, too. Ji-Han would have called that high-tech, if it wasn't done by magic. Still, that meant that they wouldn't need to waste their money on laundry detergent, which was always a good thing.

Speaking of clothes, they turned up on more pages than just the sleeping quarters. They showed up in a short mention in the training room – just saying that they would not be damaged since everything was just a hologram – but more interestingly, they also showed up in the Beaming-segment. There it said that when their appearance changed to fit the locals, so did their clothes.

To an extent. For example, while clothes would change their form, that was just their outward appearance. They would protect from the local weather but they wouldn't suddenly become more durable. It also only worked for clothes they actually wore and, more importantly, it only worked for the climate they first landed in. If they had to travel to a region of a different climate in one world, they would have to get new clothes fit for the new climate. And weapons wouldn't change at all. So they might have to invest into some bags for those if they didn't want to grab the wrong kind of attention.

Still, the changing clothes meant that they didn't actually had to get ones for every occasion. And if they did, it would be better to buy them from the locals nonetheless since then the style would fit, too.

All in all, that meant they only really needed new clothes in case their current ones got damaged – besides what they wanted to wear onboard the FO Vimana. Like pajamas. After getting her stuff from the Konohanatei, Akari had enough of everything and Shua didn't need clothes in the first place. Naofumi was also a minimum-luggage kind of guy. He even slept inside his normal clothes.

Ji-Han also wore just boxer-shorts and a t-shirt for sleep but at last he changed them before going to bed. And his other casual clothes, he liked to change often. But he guessed, he had to make due with less than he was used to for now. Even in his world clothes weren't cheap and in Traverse Town they should be even harder to get. So, two t-shirts, two boxer-shorts, two pair of socks, and one pair of trousers at first. And hopefully more of them later.

Also on the list were medical supplies. Or a healing ability?

"Are there people in Traverse Town who can teach a healing ability?" Ji-Han inquired and Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"No, you are supposed to look for a book. You can learn new skills through books, can't you? The bookstore Book Girl is right here in the Shopping Arcade, too."

Right. So, food and medical supplies at the Leon Shop, clothes at Michiru and Mitsuyo, possible skill books and study materials at Book Girl and weapons, armor and weights at The Smithy. Those were the places they could get things. First, food. It was the most important thing on their list and they were already at the Leon Shop. It just made sense.

Unfortunately, they came upon another problem besides money. Even with a million Munny, they could not buy what wasn't there. The Leon Shop had 10 500g-bags of Koshihikari Rice and that was it. So, even if they bought all of them, which they could since one went for 6605 Munny, it was questionable, whether or not the amount of food would be enough for their journey. If there only was a way to see how long it would take to… was there?

Ji-Han took out the manual and looked at the Travel-section. And indeed, he could find out the travel time easily enough. In fact, it was shown automatically when he was selecting a world to travel to.

"Can you go ahead and sell our stuff?" Ji-Han asked his comrades. "I'll just want to check quickly how long it'll take to get to the other world."

But Naofumi stopped him.

"Do you really want to leave a pile of giant centipede legs behind?" He asked him and Ji-Han had to agree that that wasn't such a good idea.

"Then you go and look it up", Ji-Han told him and gave Naofumi the manual. Upon his agreement, they all went back on the FO Vimana together and split up there. But when Ji-Han wanted to go down again, he noticed that there was no new automatic safe-point at the Leon Shop. As it appeared, the two places where too close to each other for that to happen. And so they had to walk all the way from the entrance just to get back to the shop.

In the shop they had to get both Fino and Raul to sell their stuff, as it was just so much that they could hardly find place on the counter. So Fino would scan the items, while Raul, Shua and Akari were carrying them to the back afterwards. All in all, they got 19798 Munny from the centipede legs and Scrap Lead, giving them a total of 114738 Munny to work with.

In the meantime Naofumi had come back and told them that the journey would take three days or 60 hours, to be more precise. Still, that meant that they had to pack food for seven days at last… which made the rice barely last just enough. If they supplemented it with other stuff. Like noodles. Though rather the spiraling fusilli instead of the long spaghetti he was used to because they were cheaper. Then they also found some eggs, tofu, spinach and onions.

When Ji-Han saw the onions, he was reminded that there was something important that they mustn't forget: Spices. With spices and seasoning they could get a lot more variety into their food without actually having a lot of variety. Considering how much centipede meat they had, that one was pretty much vital.

But naturally they were not exactly cheap. Except for the [Traverse Town Salt] which only cost 873 Munny for 500g. But salt alone would not be enough so he chose curry and paprika powder, too. He had thought about taking some pepper, too, but for 25 000 Munny per 500g? Too expensive. They got 2kg [Milone Onions] and 500ml [Seasoning Vinegar] instead.

After that it was a constant back-and forth on what they should get. Even if it became clear soon enough that their current founds would not be enough. They would have to use up all of their money to get enough variety and then they still had to get clothes. But if they had double the amount of Munny, things would already look different. In other words, they _had_ to complete Zelretch's Fetch Quest before they could get started. But once they had…

So for the moment they put the big shopping on hold and only got the seasonings and what they needed a lot of. 3 kg [Koshikari Rice], leaving behind four bags because Ji-Han felt bad taking all there was when they didn't need it right away, 4 kg [Fusilli Noodles], 12 bottles of [Mineral Water], because there were no empty bottles to buy, 2kg [Milone Onions], 1.5 kg [Traverse Town Salt], 100 g [Milone Curry Powder (Spicy)] and 100 g [Milone Paprika Powder (Spicy)].

It came all together to a total of 93643, leaving them with 21095 Munny. Seeing their money problems, they decided to separate. Naofumi would take Shua and fight against Heartless, hopefully getting some item drops and EXP from them, while Ji-Han and Akari would go to the clothes store. Theoretically Akari could have gone with them, too, but…

"Welcome", a voice greeted them as they entered the clothing store.

"Hello, Michiru-san", Akari greeted back, redirecting the attention of the store owner towards Akari and making her eyes widen in recognition. But before they could say anything, another person came speeding from behind a wall.

"Did I hear Akarin?" They asked and, seeing the person in question, brightened up considerably.

"Oh, Akarin!" They called out as they walked towards the younger girl. "Did you come too try some more clothes?!"

"Not at the moment, Mitsuyo-san", Akari denied. "We are actually here to sell and buy stuff for him."

"Him?" Mitsuyo repeated and, for the first time, noticed Ji-Han. They studied him and turned back to Akari.

"Isn't he a bit too old for you?" They asked, making the girl blush in response.

"It's not like that!" She denied vehemently, making Mitsuyo chuckle.

"Please excuse her", Michiru told Ji-Han. "I am Akechi Michiru and this is my wife Mitsuyo. We are the owners of Michiru and Mitsuyo. What can we do for you?"

[-Michiru and Mitsuyo Owner-  
Lv12 Akechi, Michiru]

[Cheeky Devil  
-Michiru and Mitsuyo Owner-  
Lv9 Akechi, Mitsuyo]

Ji-Han had known that they were related in some way as he had already seen their names beforehand, but he was surprised to hear they were married. His mind just didn't jump to marriage when seeing two females with the same last name. After all, wasn't same-sex marriage illegal?

…at last in his home country it was, even if the sex in itself was legal. But in the end that didn't matter, right? All laws of their home worlds stopped mattering after their arrival in Traverse Town. And those two were definitively not even from a world like his in the first place. Why he was so sure about that? Because they both had horns.

Michiru was a middle-aged woman with blue eyes and long blond hair styled in a ponytail. On top of her head were two long ears similar to those of an equine with short fur-like hair of the same color. On the inside however, the fur was white and fluffy instead. Also, her forehead was free of any hair and instead there was a long, spiraling white horn like from a unicorn.

Mitsuyo on the other hand had green eyes and shoulder-length blue hair with a tint of green. But like Michiru, she had two equine ears were the outside was of the same color as her hair and the inside was fluffy with fur of a brighter color. But while Michuru had only one horn, Mitsuyo had two. They began from the back of her head and curved around the sides over her hair towards the front where they then twisted, curving up and to the outside. They also had the same spiraling structure, but they had more of a yellowish-brown tint that made it look closer to gold than white.

Their clothes also differed a lot. Michiru wore a fancy silken dress of dark blue color reaching all the way to her ankles, nearly hiding the shoes of the same color. Mitsuyo, on the other hand, had a red parka over a comfortable yellow sweater and a dark blue skirt through which a tail with a bushy end showed, also in the same bluish color as her hair. She also wore white sneakers, opposite to Michiru's fancy lace-less slip-on shoes.

"Hello, I am Han Ji-Han", he greeted them. "My world has just recently been devoured by Heartless and now I am in need for new clothing. I also have found some leather that I would like to sell here. [Inventory]."

With that he pulled out the leather, only for Mitsuyo to shout excited:

"You have a real-life inventory?!"

Ji-Han nodded.

"I have all kinds of Gamer-like abilities", he explained. "An inventory, a body that doesn't show damage, levels and stats, voice-activated skills and many more."

"That's really cool", Mitsuyo exclaimed and Ji-Han grinned.

"It is pretty amazing, isn't it?" He agreed smugly. "In fact, the items I want to sell you are items the Air-Soldier-Heartless dropped when I defeated them."

"Drop items?" She repeated. "So that is why they are all in perfect squares of the same size. Damn, I am jealous… did you know that I was quite the otaku in our home world?"

"I can see that."

"Well, it's actually the reason I opened this clothing store. In my free time I made my own cosplay outfits. And when we got stranded in Traverse Town two decades ago, I was the only one able to make clothes." She had a solemn expression on her face as she continued to talk. "It is funny that with all the things I learned in school, it was the skills I developed for my hobby that came in handy later. Though to be fair to the teachers, it is not like anyone planned out there future with the possible end of the world in mind."

She chuckled, but it sounded a bit sad.

"Don't worry", Ji-Han told her. "I've got the Keyblade and a spaceship. With those I'll travel from world to world and take out the Heartless so that no more worlds will get destroyed."

"And I'll help him!" Akari proclaimed loudly, making the two demi-humans look at her with worry.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Michiru asked her. "Are you sure you will be alright?"

"My ability classifies her as a Level 13", Ji-Han supplied helpfully. "That makes her the highest-level person in the room. And the only times I have seen her getting hit was when she was so sleepy that she literally ran into the enemy's attack. I am not saying it won't be dangerous, but she is pretty strong."

"Ehehehe", Akari laughed in embarrassment at the praise. "I'll do my best!"

"Just be careful, okay?" Michiru told her and Mitsuyo nodded.

"I don't want to lose my favorite dress-up doll", she added, making her wife roll her eyes.

Akari meanwhile was still happily responding with a "Yes~."

"Then back to business", Mitsuyo decided and brought the deer leather over to the counter. She brought out a scanning device similar to those that the Leon Shop used but she stopped short before using it. She then took the white piece and stroke over it with her hand.

"This texture…" She mused as she finally took the scanner and scanned it.

"Wow", she exclaimed as she turned to face him, "your ability made leather that was brain-tanned?"

"I was trying to forget that", Ji-Han cringed. Mitsuyo looked at him stumbled for a moment, before she realized why he was behaving that way and laughed.

"Oh, don't be such a wuss", she told him playfully. "Brain-tanning is just another way to process hide. In fact, brain-tanned leather is actually really valuable because the process is so long and hard with the end result speaking for itself."

"It is?" Huh, you learned something new every day.

"It is", she confirmed as she scanned it. "Like I thought, 37.000 Munny."

37.000?! That was more than the pepper! Even if that had to do with the fact that the Heartless dropped a whole 1 m² at once, it was still pretty impressive. Speaking of…

"Can you cut off a hand-sized piece from each different types?" He asked. "One of my party members needs it."

"Sure, I can do that", Mitsuyo told him. "But it will feature into the price since I'll have to be careful not to damage it."

"Better than using up the whole thing at once", he told her which she accepted as "making sense".

While she was busy cutting up the leather, Ji-Han got some EXP-Notifications, showing that Shua and Naofumi had stumbled upon Heartless. One Soldier and two Shadows from the looks of it. {+15 EXP} …make that two Soldiers.

Regardless, once Mitsuyo was finished, they got 55.980 more Munny, leaving them with a total of 71.075. Which should be enough to get some clothes. At last for sleeping. In fact, he was able to get himself one t-shirt, one chinos trousers and one boxer-shorts, all in a whitish color. That left him with 5926 Munny so he could technically get another boxer-shorts, but he didn't want to be left with less than 5000 Munny for now.

With that in mind, after their shopping was concluded there was only one thing to do: farming.

* * *

"I've got another Lucid Shard", Akari happily proclaimed through their voice-chat.

"Really?" Responded Ji-Han enthusiastically. "Good job. With that there is only one missing!"

{+6 EXP} And that was another Shadow taken down by Akari, even if it didn't sound like she got another Lucid Shard out of it.

"Do you want to meet up again?" He asked in the voice chat. "It's been over two hours, again."

"We still have enough space in _our_ inventory", replied Naofumi. "So we don't actually _need_ to meet up for now. I suggest we wait until we got the last Lucid Shard."

That made sense. After their first two hours separated, they had originally only met up to put the unwieldy deer leather and poisonous lead into Ji-Han's inventory space. And to switch out Shua and Akari, so that Akari could finish the Air Soldiers that Naofumi brought down from the sky as a form of power-leveling Shua.

So, since Naofumi's team has yet to come upon another leather or lead drop and Naofumi had raised no objection to giving the, for him, meager EXP of the Air Soldiers to Shua, there was no urgent need to meet up again.

"Alright, we'll see you later then", he told them, just as he noticed the appearance of Heartless out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, they just appeared here, too." But no Shadows. Just two Soldiers and three… what?

"[Observe]!"

{Bizarre Archer Lv8  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 48/48  
MP: 50/50  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Elemental Alignment: None, Darkness  
Heartless that take the appearance of humanoid archers.  
Alone they are little more than annoying but they can pose a great threat in packs.  
STR: 5 VIT: 10 DEX: 19  
INT: 5 WIS: 8 LUK: 5}

As the description said, they resembled human archers, at last a bit. Though Ji-Han would have described them more as Soldier-Heartless who had exchanged their spandex suit for a dress with serrated ends and a silver girdle, their black shoes for yellow ones, their claws for white gloves and the metal helmet for a red cap with two spiraling ends and two spirals above the place where the eyes where, as well as a white scarf. And like their name suggested, they held a small silver bow in their hands, from which they were already firing arrows.

"[Dodge Roll]", activated Ji-Han to avoid the pointy objects and lose no beat in attacking the first Soldier. The Heartless in question was coming to attack Ji-Han, too, but at this point Ji-Han's Blunt Weapon Mastery was at level 27, allowing him to take down Soldiers in two normal hits. As it found out the hard way like so many of its brethren before it.

"Go after the archers", Ji-Han told Shua, as the notification {+15 EXP} came and he moved on to the next Soldier. "But don't let them hit you!" The Bizarre Archers seem to have less VIT than Soldiers in general, so Shua should be able to deal with them more easily, as long as he managed to get close.

So, Ji-Han quickly took care of the second Soldier, while the Bizarre Archers that didn't suddenly got knocked around by a Pokémon, were busy "reloading". {+15 EXP}

Alright, now the archers.

With another Dodge Roll to the side, he escaped the arrows yet again. They just didn't know how to hit something that was on the move. Still, they were quicker to attack than any other enemies and thus he had to zigzag with two more Dodge Rolls, before he was upon them.

But then they were finished. One swing from the left to the right hit both of them before they could ready another arrow, while the return-swing took care of them just like that. {+15 EXP} {+16 EXP}

And then Shua came through, adding another {+16 EXP}. And when the Bizarre Archer vanished, it also dropped an arrow.

"[Observe]."

{[Weasel Yokai Arrow – Rank: Super]  
Weapon Type: Arrow  
An arrow made out of the teeth and claws of a Weasel Yokai.  
Base Damage: 10}

Oh, an arrow-type made out of Yokai-parts? Did that mean that they could hurt Heartless?

{+25 EXP}

Speaking of our own archer, looks like she just took down an Air Soldier.

"Hey, guys", he spoke through the voice-chat. "Have you ever seen an archer-Heartless?"

"An archer-Heartless?" Naofumi repeated. "That doesn't sound good."

"There are around the strength of a Soldier", Ji-Han told them. "So, not really that difficult."

{+25 EXP}

"I haven't heard of an archer-like Heartless before", Naofumi refuted. "And unknowns are always bad when it comes to Heartless. I have not experienced it myself, yet, but for the people here this usually means the arrival of the Guard Armor. Let's regroup at… I think the Konohanatei is the closest and then head for the White Ant to get a grasp at the situation." {+15 EXP}

"Alright", agreed Ji-Han. Let's go.

* * *

Ji-Han and Shua needed to wait around 20 minutes until the others arrived, having been stalled by Heartless on their way. But once they were all together, they quickly teleported onto their spaceship, changed their teleportation point and then went back down again.

And promptly got into a fight with Heartless. But thanks to Naofumi's quick thinking in deploying his defensive abilities, they came out unscratched. Still, even just trying to reach Zenkichi they had to fight their way through not a small amount of Heartless. But when they reached the command center, the door to the room was already open, as well as the window on the other side and Genos was nowhere to be seen.

Instead there was a tall middle-aged man with wavy black hair flowing all the way to his chest and a single strand of hair reaching over the left side of his face, reaching to his neck, also in a flowing manner. That was when Ji-Han noticed the large burn scar reached from his left eyebrow to his left cheek, which was a lot more eye-catching than the gray eyes or the wide mouth.

He wore a dark red cloak, buttoned together at his right shoulder over a black bodysuit. Around his waist were two belts, one worn normally, the other hanging a bit loosely on his right side. And around his right tight he had fastened a pouch with a book.

[Chain Magic  
-Magician-  
Lv? Revchi]

Revchi noticed the first and, as his gaze fell upon Naofumi, put on a maniac smile on his face.

"Hey, aren't you the brat who tried to take my job from me? Are you also after the Guard Armor? How unfortunate but I will be the one to take care of it."

But as he made to leave the room, Zenkichi stopped him.

"Please wait a moment, Revchi-san", he told him, before addressing Ji-Han.

"I assume you are here because of the irregularities with the Heartless?"

"Yes", Ji-Han confirmed. "Is it really the work of the Guard Armor?"

"We are assuming as much. That is why I want you to team up with Revchi-san and take it down."

"And what good would that do?" The person in question interjected. "I am strong enough to destroy the Guard Armor with a single attack. What good would teaming up with anyone do?"

"This time the purpose is not just to defeat the Guard Armor", Mikage explained. "It is to defeat the Guard Armor permanently. As such, it is vital that the last strike will be done with Han-san's Keyblade. Fail to do that and there will be no reward."

"What?" Revchi exclaimed in anger and he turned to get a good look at Ji-Han. "Do you really possess a Keyblade?!"

Ji-Han summoned it and Revchi grit his teeth.

"So there really is a Keyblade", he mused and afterwards took deep breaths.

"So my job is to protect the little chick from the attacks of the Guard Armor while he scratches at it", he summarized calmly. "Sure, I can do that. But seeing as I am the one doing the actual work, it is only fitting that I will get the reward, isn't it?"

"I don't think we actually need you", denied Naofumi. "We are all strong in our own right. Actually, it is not at all that we need _you_. They need _him_. Anyone can keep the Guard Armor busy, but only he can defeat it permanently. And any money he gets is used to go and save more worlds. If he hadn't become a member of the Hero Union, they would throw it after him. And unless you plan to join him in his quest, you are little more than a replaceable mercenary."

"That is enough", Zenkichi interrupted Naofumi harshly before the magician could blow a fuse. "Do you want to turn Revchi-san into a Heartless?!"

That stopped the hero in the shield in his tracks.

"I apologize", he said. "That wasn't my intention. But I don't like people who think they are just entitled to things."

"I ask you to keep these impulses under control as much as possible", Zenkichi told him. "Strife is our most dangerous foe. The same goes for you, Revchi-san. Be mindful of what you say as not every comment can be dismissed as harmless fun by everybody."

"Yes", Naofumi and Revchi responded at the same time.

"Good. Now, back to the matter at hand, Revchi-san might not be the only possibly candidate to restrain the Guard Armor, but his Chain Magic makes him the best. And even if you think, you can defeat the Guard Armor on your own, if Han-san dies, then so dies our only hope of dealing with the Heartless permanently. And while I am not telling you how to go about your quest, here in Traverse Town, I will not let you fight against the Guard Armor without backup.

So, if you do not agree to fight with him against the Guard Armor, I will ask you to stay in this room until the situation has been dealt with."

"No need", declared Ji-Han. "There is no way that I would not agree to take down the Guard Armor for good. Some extra money would be nice, but it's not really the most important thing. Still, I would like to see how our group stacks up against some kind of boss monster."

"Very well", Zenkichi responded. "Then we will do it like this: If you take down the Guard Armor with the Keyblade and release its heart, we will grand both parties together a total of 100,000 Munny. 25,000 of it will be given to each party for the accomplished mission. Then other half will be given according to your merits. 25,000 Munny will go to those who find the Guard Armor first. In Revchi-san's case, he will also have to keep it busy until Han-san arrives, while in the latter's case, he will not engage until the back-up has arrived. Then his party will finally fight against the Heartless and if they manage to defeat it on their own, earn the last 25,000 Munny. If Revchi-san has to intervene, they will go to him instead. Do you agree?"

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

Ah, there it was. He had already wondered when it would show up.

{**Quest Alert**

Menace of the Dayless Town: Empty Guardian

The Guard Armor shows up in Traverse Town from time to time, increasing the amount of weaker Heartless and their aggression.

Defeat the [Guard Armor] with the Keyblade to make sure it never bothers Traverse Town again.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Find the Guard Armor before Revchi does.  
2: Defeat the Guard Armor without Revchi's help.

Completion Award: +5 000 EXP.  
A payment of 25 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with most people of Twilight Town.  
Decreased reputation with Revchi, Gokudo Yuccot Kikansky and Koizumi Takashi.

Bonus Award:  
1: +2000 EXP.  
A payment of 25 000 Munny.  
Decreased reputation with Revchi.  
2: +2000 EXP.  
A payment of 25 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with Revchi.

Completion Failure: +1 000 EXP.  
Decreased reputation with the people of Twilight Town.}

That sounded about right… except that that he'd get decreased reputation as a completion reward. Even with people he had never even heard of before. Where there people that would actually hate him if he took out an enemy that plagued Traverse Town?! Would Revchi?!

…He would, wouldn't he? He wanted to get the money for defeated the Guard Armor. He didn't want to share.

But killing the Heartless was a lot more important than making that guy happy. So Ji-Han accepted without reservation, followed by Revchi himself.

"Then you better accept this party invitation", Ji-Han told the Chain Magician. "Once you have, you can use the voice chat to talk with us wherever you are. Revchi, [Party Invite]."

"What the-", Revchi exclaimed in surprise as in front of him, a blue panel appeared.

"Is that so?" Zenkichi voiced with interest. "Then would you please extend an invitation to me, too, so that we can keep updated on any new developments? Or is there a maximum party size."

"If there is, I haven't found it yet. [Party Invite]."

{[Hitoyoshi, Zenkichi] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

{[Revchi] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

"World Salvation Party?" Zenkichi read out loud and Ji-Han blushed.

"I had to give it some name", he defended himself.

"Alright. How do I activate the voice chat?"

"You say 'Party Options', chose {Voice Chat} and then set him to {ON}. Then, whenever you say something with the intention of people hearing it through the voice chat, they will."

"Like this?" Zenkichi spoke through the voice chat and Ji-Han nodded.

"Just like this."

"Good. The Guard Armor appears in areas with a lot of space. This can mean placed like parks, school front yards, sport arenas or wide crossroads. The priority are the areas in the Urban District as it has yet to show up in any other district."

"[Inventory]." Ji-Han pulled out his map.

"Let's see… where to first."

"Aren't you going to start?" Naofumi asked Revchi. "Wouldn't it be better for you to get a running start?"

"Tch. Might as well." With that he left and Naofumi turned towards Zenkichi.

"Any information on our opponent's fighting style?"

"The Guard Armor is a three-story sized, living armor-like Heartless", Mikage explained. It is made out of a torso with a head, two gauntlets and two legs. There are no visible connections between the body parts, but destroying the torso destroys the other parts, too. The reverse is not true, unfortunately.

It attacks by moving its body parts, often spinning for additional power. Sometimes it also flies up all its parts before crashing them onto the ground, creating a shockwave. I advice to be especially careful not to be in range when that happens."

"Noted", Naofumi responded, than turned towards Ji-Han. "Have you decided were to go?"

"Maybe there…"

"A good choice as any", commented Naofumi. "But let's go in a curve around here. That way there are some more crossroads until we teach the Haunted Park."

"H-haunted?!" Exclaimed Akari in fright, redirecting the others attention to her.

"Is it really haunted?" Ji-Han inquired with interest and Mikage nodded.

"If you define 'haunted' as 'inhabited by ghosts', yes", she answered. "But it has nothing of that atmosphere and the two ghosts that live there are more like people you can't see."

"Oh, that's good", Akari said relieved. "I don't like spooky things."

"Then our destination is set", declared Naofumi. "Let's go."

* * *

It really looked like the Guard Armor was going to show up soon. They had to fight a lot more enemies on the way to the park. Normally it took some time for them to show up, but the further they went, the more frequently they showed up. In fact, they showed up so often that Shua was close to a level-up. They were actually making bets on whether or not Shua would level-up before they fought the Guard Armor.

But this was not just all in good spirits. It was a fact that currently Shua was too weak to fight against the stronger mooks, less alone a boss monster. And not just because of his STR. In fact, his STR was now nearly as high as Ji-Han's and Akari's thanks to the training. Yet he still did less damage than those two. The reason for that was his attack. The scratch-like attack was a lot weaker than the weapons Akari and Ji-Han used, meaning he needed more STR to get the same result.

So if they met the Guard Armor before his level-up, they were better of leaving Shua near Revchi and deal with the Heartless on their own.

Which was why, when they reached the park and saw a group of smaller Heartless, Shua was visible relieved. That guy really wanted to fight with them. But even so, what was with these numbers?! 3 Shadows, 4 Soldiers, 3 Bizarre Archers and 2 Air Soldiers? That was like double the amount that usually showed up!

SMACK!

And then Ji-Han had the pleasure to witness a Soldier flying through the air after getting hit by a white person-sized rectangular sign. A sign, which was now flying around in mid-air, curving around the Heartless, swatting them away with the flat or hitting them with its edge.

But as Ji-Han was stumped by the strange occurrence, Shua was already running towards the enemies with Akari shooting at an Air Soldier, while Naofumi smacked the second one out of the sky with an [Air Strike Shield], right towards him. That got him to finally move, too and he used a [Power Strike] to slam the Heartless against the ground, earning him a {Critical}, before he wailed at its grounded form with normal attacks.

He hadn't managed to take down its HP completely before the other one Air Soldier reached him, now two of Akari's arrow lodged in its torso. That forced him to abandon the current attack and [Guard] instead. Luckily that skill was good against those kind of foes as the Heartless was too stunned at the successful block to do anything, before it, too, was brought out of the air by a well-placed strike.

Meanwhile Naofumi had hurried past him and stood, shield-raised, against the arrows shot towards them from the Bizarre Archers while Akari finished what Ji-Han started and stabbed the other Air Soldier on the ground.

{+28 EXP}

That threat eliminated, Ji-Han stepped on the other Air Soldier and pulled out Akari's arrows. Thanks to the special body of the Heartless things like that didn't really do much damage, if any at all, but it gave Akari her limited ammunition back and he now could attack the Heartless without risking to break the arrows.

The downside was that that gave it enough time and focus to start clawing at him.

{-1}

Not that it did it much good. Trapped like that, Ji-Han had no trouble whittling its HP down one step at a time, only receiving minimal damage in return while Naofumi and Akari went to deal with the rest of the enemies.

Which meant 2 Shadows, 2 Soldiers and 3 Bizarre Archers, as 1 Shadow and 2 Soldiers had been taken down by Shua and the "sign". Akari reached the closest Archer who aimed at her, only for Akari to duck to the right. For some reason that was something the Heartless had not anticipated, stopping it in its tracks, allowing Akari to close in on it and, before the Heartless could react, slash at its head twice in succession, obliterating it.

{+18 EXP}

"[Shield Prison]!"

Suddenly Akari was surrounded by multiple greenish shields put together to form a sphere, held together by chains of the same color. Which stopped the arrows from the other two Bizarre Archers, as well as the dropkick from a Soldier-Heartless, which fell onto his back because of that.

"Downed Soldier at four, Archers at eleven", Naofumi told her through the voice chat, before letting go of the [Shield Prison]. Akari instantly jumped towards the Soldier on the ground, stabbing it as she landed. Then she quickly pulled it out and stabbed again, destroying the Heartless, giving them {+18 EXP} and a Scrap Aluminum.

That done, she quickly jumped to the side, making the arrows fired by the Bizarre Archers miss her. Who then suddenly got attacked in melee by Shua who, together with the sign, had dealt with the Shadows and the Soldier.

Which meant that the fight was pretty much over and soon enough, their experience got added to their party.

"Are you alright?" Ji-Han asked the sign. "Tip over for 'Yes' and shake for 'No'."

"I can talk, you know", a deep voice suddenly intoned.

The sign straightening itself, allowing Ji-Han to see for the first time what was on it. Which didn't help much since it were just two rows of Japanese kanji, with the first two on the left side and the exclamation mark that followed in red color opposite to the others in black.

"Oh, I am sorry", apologized Ji-Han. "I just assumed you couldn't talk since you hadn't done so before."

"It is alright", the sign told him. "I assume you have not much experiences with ghosts were you are from. I am known as the Bounded Spirit of the Park. Who are you?"

"Oh, I am Han Ji-Han. Have you met Naofumi-Hyung, Akari-Yang and Shua?"

"Not yet. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise", responded Akari, bowing her head.

That was when another voice was raised:

"Is everything all right, Bounded Spirit-san?"

Ji-Han turned towards the voice and saw a young woman, maybe slightly older than him. She had brown eyes that appeared to be shimmering in the lights of Traverse and smooth purple hair that was flowing in long straight strands all the way to her waist. Other strands nearly as long as the hair on her backside were on each side of her face, in between her eyes and ears. Her forehead, meanwhile, was covered with bangs reaching all the way to her eyes. Yet even though the hair looked well-cared for, there were a lot of loose hairs, swaying with every move of her head. Her clothes consisted of a blue knee-length skirt, a pink-colored anorak that emphasized her slender waist and thin, brown shoes.

[Voice of the Dead  
Lv3 Amami, Hibiki]

"Everything is alright", the Bounded Spirit told her, ripping Ji-Han out of his thoughts and making him realize that he had been staring. With a slight tint on his cheeks The Gamer turned towards the sign as the ghost continued: "The Heartless have been taken care of."

"Thank you for your hard work", Hibiki told him, making him respond with a "You're welcome."

That said, she turned to Ji-Han and greeted him and his group:

"Hello", she said, "what brings you to this place?"

"Oh, we are looking for the Guard Armor", Ji-Han explained. "But I guess, it hasn't shows up here?"

"Luckily not", the voice of a young girl said next to Amami. "It's always so much work to refill the water."

"Oh, this is Hanako-san", Hibiki introduced the space next to her and then, brought her mouth to her face in shock.

"Oh, I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself", she quickly added. "I am Amami Hibiki. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you", responded Ji-Han politely. "I am Han Ji-Han and these are Iwatani Naofumi and Shua."

"And Akaza Akari", the person he had forgotten to introduce piped up, making him flinch.

"And Akaza Akari", he amended. But man, didn't that already happen before? He really needed to keep his act together.

"Yeah, it's nice meeting you and all", Naofumi interrupted. "But we do gotta find it. Before _that guy_ does."

"Right", agreed Naofumi and turned back towards Hibiki. "Please excuse us."

"Please, take care."

"Helloooooo, brats~!"

Ji-Han flinched as Revchi's cheerful voice spoke directly into his ear.

"I've found it~! Now hurry up over before it accidentally kills itself on my chains!"

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han, ignoring anything besides the actual message. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm in front of that school building with the lightning bolt. Don't know what it's called."

"Oh, it's the Raimon School", Akari exclaimed enthusiastically. "I know where it is!"

"Alright", declared Ji-Han, "please take us there, Akari-Yang. Shua, how's your level?"

"Smear!" He shouted, raising his hand with the tail victoriously in the air, making Ji-Han smile.

"[Observe]!"

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv5 (0.55%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 2  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 511/600  
MP: 150/150  
STR: 17 VIT: 9 DEX: 19  
INT: 2 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

An STR of 17, good. That meant that he put in the points himself. Otherwise, it would most likely be his DEX that would really get an increase instead.

"He's now got an STR of 17", Ji-Han told his companions. "That should be enough for the Guard Armor."

* * *

As Mikage had told them, the Guard Armor was made up out of six separated parts, all with purple shades. The head was round with metal spikes on top and on its sizes and some sort of visor with small holes at the front. The torso was an empty and exaggerated hourglass figure of a normal human torso with metal plates on the sides where the neck would have been and one in a ring at its bottom. And at the center of the torso, was the black and red symbol that was on every Emblem-Heartless. The limbs all had the same base, some kind of bottle-like design that acted like a ball-and-socket joint toa black plate with three silver claws in the case of the hands and two black hammer head-like structures in the case of the feet.

Behind the Guard Armor was a large fancy building with a lightning bolt hanging above stairs coming from left and right to the entrance. To the left was a building that looked like three square towers with windows stacked next to each other, with water towers atop the two outward ones. To the right was a small hall-like structure with a curved ceiling. The front yard, where the Guard Armor was, had also something resembling a sandbox with yellow concrete blocks on its edges and a lamb on each corner.

And all the parts of the Guard Armor were surrounded by multiple chains, struggling futilely against their restraints.

"Oh, so you are finally here", Revchi noted bored as he walked towards them. "Took you long enough."

"We came as fast as we could", Ji-Han defended himself and Revchi shrugged as he walked past them, sitting against the fenced walls of the school compound.

"If you say so. Now, it's your turn." With that the chains holding back the Guard Armor vanished.

"Wait-", Ji-Han began to speak, but it was already too late. The Guard Armor had decided on him as his new target, spinning its hands around as he slowly walked over to him.

Damn. No time for preparation.

"Let's go! [Observe]!"

To his surprise, when he used Observe, four more panels opened together with the usual one.

{Guard Armor Lv22  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 610/610  
MP: 330/330  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Elemental Alignment: Fight, Sound  
Leader of the Heartless in Traverse Town.  
It falls apart when it receives damage, but each part attacks individually.  
STR: 28 VIT: 45 DEX: 26  
INT: 12 WIS: 15 LUK: 10}

{Guard Gauntlet Lv22  
A part of the Guard Armor.  
HP: 82/82}

{Guard Gauntlet Lv22  
A part of the Guard Armor.  
HP: 82/82}

{Hammerleg Lv22  
A part of the Guard Armor.  
HP: 110/110}

{Hammerleg Lv22  
A part of the Guard Armor.  
HP: 110/110}

So, from the looks of it, each body part had an individual health-bar, but still belonged to the Heartless at a whole. Which was why destroying the torso took care of all parts while destroying a gauntlet or leg only destroying it. But destroying the limbs would probably make fighting it easier.

"The Guard Gauntlets have 82 HP and the Hammerlegs 110", he conveyed the facts to his party members. "But other than that they don't have any stats, which probably means that they probably have the same as the Guard Armor itself. Its HP is 610, MP 330, STR 28, VIT 45, DEX 26…" Wait. Its VIT was 45?! How were they supposed to damage it?!

"Smear!" The Pokémon shouted enthusiastically, as it hit the left leg with its attack, dealing one damage to both it and the torso. Akari shot an arrow at it, but the arrow just bounced of it without dealing any damage.

Damn, that was bad, really bad.

"Get back here, Shua!" Ji-Han shouted as he ran forward. But it was already too late. The Guard Gauntlets suddenly took up speed and spun circles around the torso, only not hitting Shua because of a suddenly appearing [Air Strike Shield] interrupting the attack.

Akari had ran forward just like him, giving up on ranged attacks and attacked the other Hammerleg with her knife, dealing two damage to it.

Damn it, damn it.

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han, finally reaching the Heartless, attacking the same leg. Only for him to hit the ground, creating an explosion of sand as all the Heartless parts flew up into the air and out of their reach. Wait, didn't Mikage say something about that?!

"Get clear!" Shouted Ji-Han as he ducked and rolled out of the way.

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 7.}

Ji-Han would have rejoiced about that message a lot more, if he had actually managed to get clear of the shockwave as the Heartless-parts came crashing down again. But he hadn't been far enough from it and thus it hit him right in the back as he had straightened himself out of his impromptu Dodge Roll, giving him {-73} HP damage and throwing him all the way to the building on the left, nearly making him hit it.

PING!

{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}

"Ji-Han!" Akari's shout could be heard through their voice chat and Ji-Han quickly reassured her that he was fine. The Gamer's Body really came in handy in such situations. And now it got even stronger. He had to remember to check how much later… huh?

"Shua, no!" He shouted towards the Pokémon who, disregarding his earlier failure, was now running towards the Heartless whose body parts were rearranging themselves again in the right order. Yet Shua did not listen. He ran towards the right Hammerleg and used his hand to direct his tail in a downward motion while shouting "Gle!"

To everybody's surprise, it wasn't the image of a claw that appeared. Instead it was the image of giant metal key that was glowing and hit the Hammerleg with the backside of its tip. And then the Hammerleg exploded and completely vanished without any trace.

"What the-", was the only thing that Ji-Han could voice in surprise at the new development. But while he was too shocked to do anything, the Guard Armor wasn't. Angrily it stomped with his last leg and rotated the gauntlets around its body.

Yet once again, Shua was protected by Naofumi. With a [Shield Prison] instead of a [Air Strike Shield] this time though. Which meant that while Shua did not get any damage as he was safely inside the ball of shields, the attack was not stopped and the Shield Prison was thrown away, Smeargle inside includes.

"Power Strike seems to be really effective", Naofumi told Ji-Han through their voice-chat, confirming that yes, Shua had just Power Strike on the enemy. His Power Strike. Did he copy it?! If he could do that, why didn't he do that earlier? Oh, the level-up! Did that meant he would get the copying ability, every time he leveled up? That was great!

Ji-Han ran towards the Heartless, grinning.

Shua had used his copy-skill to copy his Power Strike, basically telling him, Power Strike was the strongest attack they all currently had. Not that he was wrong, but it was clearly nice to hear that.

"[Power Strike]", Ji-Han attacked the other leg and with a {Critical}, obliterated it all the same. Then he quickly [Dodge Roll]ed out of the way of the angry retaliation, a series of two punches with its left Guard Gauntlet.

Meanwhile Akari jumped up from behind and, stabbed it with her dagger, before running away again. Probably to redirect its attention as it didn't really do much damage. Only for Ji-Han's attention to get redirected instead, as a PING with a message appeared:

{[Observe]'s Level has risen by 1.}

{Guard Armor Lv22  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 388/610  
MP: 280/330  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Elemental Alignment: Fight, Sound, None  
Leader of the Heartless in Traverse Town.  
It falls apart when it receives damage, but each part attacks individually.  
STR: 28 VIT: 45 DEX: 26  
INT: 12 WIS: 15 LUK: 10}

{Guard Gauntlet Lv22  
A part of the Guard Armor.  
HP: 82/82}

{Guard Gauntlet Lv22  
A part of the Guard Armor.  
HP: 82/82}

Seriously, if the Hammerlegs hadn't already been defeated, he would have had too many panels open at once. Seriously, couldn't he get the information like HP atop their head or something?! This was getting annoying!

"Smeargle!" As Ji-Han closed the panels for the two gauntlets, he heard Shua shout. It seemed he was back onto the battlefield from his impromptu trip in the ball of shields.

"Get on its other side", Ji-Han told the Pokémon. "We're going to attack from two fronts! But run away once it starts spinning!"

"Smear!"

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han activated, only for the Guard Armor to dance out of the way of his attack. Ji-Han cursed but luckily Shua had more luck, hitting one of the gauntlets if the spectral key, destroying it instantly.

"That's it!" Ji-Han shouted enthusiastically and jumped away as the Guard Armor spun with its last gauntlet.

That was when Naofumi also arrived at the vicinity of the enemy and blocked the spinning hand with his shield. The shield, which now looked like the head of a Smeargle.

"[Sketch]!" Activated Naofumi and just like with Shua before, the ghostly image of a key appeared and attacked the gauntlet. This time, however, the gauntlet did not get destroyed. Instead, it only took two HP from the Guard Armor's HP-pool.

"Smeargle, smeargle, smeargle", Shua spoke with a condescending tone of voice but Naofumi ignored him.

"Looks like a Power Strike with low attack is useless, too", he noted. "Looks like I am still stuck with defending."

"I'll take care of it!" Ji-Han promised as he jumped into the air, using [Power Strike]. But, once again the torso swayed out of the way, this time with the last gauntlet punching towards Ji-Han from his side.

"[Air Strike Shield]", Naofumi activated, blocking both punches and allowing Shua to destroy the last remaining limb.

"Now back off", Naofumi told them as the Guard Armor's HP went down to 224. "We don't now how it'll attack now!"

True to his words, the torso suddenly started spinning on its own. First slowly, but then faster. Then, while it was still spinning, it moved around the place, zigzagging from one point to the other like a pinball hitting invisible walls, or in case of Naofumi's shield, a visible one.

But the Hero of the Shield was the only one able to block the attack. When it hit the others, it threw them around like bowling pins. An only Shua was save from harm thanks to a timely [Shield Prison]. Ji-Han and Akari didn't have the same protection.

It hit him twice, once during its initial attack, throwing him to the ground and then, just as he was starting to stand up again, a second time from behind. {-44} {-45}

"Are you guys alright?" Naofumi asked through their voice-chat when the Guard Armor finally stopped.

"I'm alright", Akari spoke up, thought Ji-Han himself was a bit more worried.

"I am not hurt but that attack took nearly 100 of my HP", he reported. "I can't take many more of those…" He trailed of when black portals all appeared around them, on the ground and in the air. Through them appeared many Soldiers, Air Soldiers, Bizarre Archers and Air Soldiers carrying Bizarre Archers.

What the- it summoned other Heartless, too?!

"Oh, look", Revchi's condescending voice resounded through their voice chat. "You took so long that all the Heartless from the surroundings have appeared, too. Should I help you get rid of them?"

"Not yet!" Ji-Han refuted. They were so close! "Naofumi, keep the Guard Armor busy. The rest goes after the small-fry!"

As he said that, he was already running towards a group of Soldier-Heartless. Personally he found the Bizarre Archer's to be more dangerous thanks to their ranged attacks, but for now the first priority was to whittle down their numbers. And the Soldiers were already coming towards him.

"[Power Strike]", Ji-Han activated to instantly obliterate the first Soldier {+18 EXP}. Then he danced around the attack of the second and third one and [Guard]ed against the fourth. But instead of attacking the Heartless now on the ground thanks to the recoil, he turned back around and attacked the undefended backsides of the other two Soldiers, who he didn't need to bend down to attack, making himself vulnerable to other attacks. And his swings were wide enough that he hit both of them at the same time, allowing him to take out both with two strikes total instead of two each.

The second one actually dropped Scrap Lead, but Ji-Han was too busy to pick it up as pain assaulting him in his right shoulder, where an arrow from a Bizarre Archer had hit. {-4}

He quickly changed location as one of the best methods to avoid attacks from Heartless was to be on the move and took a look around on the battlefield. Akari had managed to sneak up behind a group of Bizarre Archers on the ground and decimated them with her dagger, while Shua was wrecking havoc inside a group of Soldiers with his [Power Strike].

"Don't use up all your MP, Shua", he admonished the Smeargle through their voice-chat. "We'll need some for the boss."

Then he quickly jumped out of the way as a bunch of Bizarre Archers carried by Air Soldiers had now decided to use him for some target practice.

"Akari-Yang, take down the airborne Archers", he told her as she was the only one with the reach that wasn't busy stopping the boss from killing them all. "Shua, go for the grounded ones. But be careful you don't get hit." After all, it wouldn't do for the Air Soldiers to suddenly pick up the other Bizarre Archers. And he was currently a bit busy trying to evade all the arrows the guys above him send after him.

"Ji-Han, Guard Armor six o'clock!" Naofumi suddenly shouted through their voice-chat, making him curse as he turned around. Couldn't that guy leave him alone at last until they dealt with the small-fry?

"[Guard]!" He shouted as he brought up his Keyblade to defend himself from the spinning torso. His timing was on point and so the Heartless reflected away from his Keyblade as if it was Noafumi's shield.

Additionally, the large frame of the Guard Armor had blocked any arrows for the moment, allowing him to take a look at the airborne Heartless and watch as a Bizarre Archer was pierced by one of Akari's arrows, destroying it and making it drop all four of the arrows that had before been stuck in its body.

The Air Soldier, who was suddenly without any luggage to carry, looked around confused and then dove down towards Ji-Han, while the three other Bizarre Archers held in the air continued to shoot at him. Now, if the Air Soldier had come at him on its own, he would have stood his ground and blocked the attack before attacking the helpless Heartless on the ground. But together with the arrows? No chance! So, he rather [Dodge Roll]ed out of the way, under all the attacks.

Then he jumped and, to his surprise, actually managed to get the feet of one of the Bizarre Archers with his Keyblade. And the Air Soldier carrying the Archer did not flew higher. It just turned around so that the Bizarre Archer could have a better shot at him.

Ji-Han smiled at that blunder as he jumped again. But this time he missed as in mid-jump his attention was redirected elsewhere thanks to a cry of "Ua!"

"Akari!" Ji-Han called out to her, but Naofumi tried to placate him saying "She can take it."

Now Ji-Han would have loved to check up on her using the party option, but he had to trust Naofumi for now, as the three arrows suddenly sticking into his back gave him something of a higher priority. Especially the special delivery taking down 14 of his HP instead of the usual 4 or 5. So he ran, again, hoping that Akari's higher level would get her through this.

That brought him towards a group of two Soldiers, which he both "tagged" with his Keyblade on the way through as he couldn't stop because of the Archers on his tail. Now adding the two Soldiers, too. Heck, maybe he should just agro all of them and have his teammates taking pot-shots at them while he was running around… {+20 EXP} though they were making good headway already.

"Smeargle!" Came suddenly Shua's panicking cry as if to mock him. Ji-Han took a look around and saw the Pokémon getting hunted by a group of three Air Soldiers. Damn those high VIT enemies…

"Shua, to Naofumi!" Ji-Han ordered the Smeargle. "Hide under his legs until they ignore you."

"Oi, I can't deal with the Guard Armor like that", protested Naofumi and Ji-Han cursed.

"Never mind, Shua, just keep running", he told the Pokémon, "you can use Power Strike again, if you want to." Shua needed that attack if he wanted to be able to deal with the enemies. They just had to make sure that Ji-Han would keep enough MP to use it on the Guard Armor.

{+20 EXP}

"I am out of arrows", Akari now brought some more bad news, even as it was accompanied with the declaration of a dead enemy. "One carried Archer, seven Air Soldiers and three Soldiers left."

"Defeat the Soldiers and ignore the arrows for now", Ji-Han ordered as he curved around, trying to get a look behind him without compromising his running. Really, only one Bizarre Archer left. The three other Air Soldiers were luggage-free.

"Shua, I want you to use me as a stepping stone and Power Strike the last Archer. Can you do it?"

"Smear!"

"Then let's go!"

Ji-Han and Shua changed their course and were now running towards each other. Meanwhile the Guard Armor had started spinning again and was coming towards them, too. This time, however, Naofumi suddenly appeared in the way, having run faster than they had seen him do so before at any time. There he blocked the attacking Guard Armor with a shield looking like a centipede spiraling around the inner core of the shield.

"Thanks", Ji-Han voiced his gratitude as he ran past the Hero of the Shield. Then his attention was taken by Shua who had jumped onto his head and from there jumped into the air towards the last Bizarre Archer.

But Ji-Han had underestimated the recoil and was now flying towards the ground face-first.

"[Dodge Roll]", he shouted in panic and to his surprise it actually worked, making him save the fall and his dignity.

{+20 EXP}

And that was Shua eliminating the last of the ranged attackers.

{+18 EXP} {+18 EXP}

And that was Akari coming through with the Soldiers. That left one Soldier, seven Air Soldiers and the Guard Armor.

Ji-Han jumped and slashed at of the Air Soldiers that had previously gone after Shua, hoping to get the attention of it and its brethren. Then he ran towards a wall and turned around, his Keyblade ready to block any of those winged nuisances that decided to think it a good idea to come down to him.

"[Guard]!"

And there was already one candidate. But Ji-Han couldn't capitalize on the opportunity as another Air Soldier came down, forcing him to [Guard] again. And then five more times, until he had parried every one of the flying Heartless once. Unfortunately there were seven of them in total, meaning that there were enough of them that once the last Air Soldier was flapping helplessly on the ground, the first one had already back in the air, ready to strike.

Luckily Ji-Han was not alone and especially Shua was eager for some payback on these annoying enemies. And now that he, Shua and Akari were at one place, Naofumi had an easier time blocking the spinning attacks of the Guard Armor, allowing them to eliminate the Air Soldiers in peace.

They only got one scare when an Air Soldier decided to ignore Ji-Han and went after Shua instead. But they made sure the Heartless would regret it and afterwards they were a lot more careful.

And then all the Air Soldiers were dealt with and only the Guard Armor was left. Now the problem was to get to it while it was spinning like that. They could just not predict where it would stop. And if they ran towards that place, there was a chance that the Guard Armor would suddenly start again.

So, they didn't.

"Ready?" Naofumi asked and Ji-Han checked the HP of the boss, in the Observe-panel.

{HP: 224/610}

"Ready."

The Guard Armor stopped spinning and they went into action. Ji-Han jumped and Naofumi activated "[Air Strike Shield]" directly below him. Ji-Han landed on the shield, kneeling down and holding onto its tip with its left hand, with the Keyblade in his right. Then Naofumi send the Air Strike Shield forward with the passenger towards the floating Heartless.

As the transparent shield reached it, Ji-Han jumped off it and shouted "[Power Strike]!"

The HP went down to {145} as he slashed it on his way down. Then, on the bottom, he quickly brought the Keyblade up and down again, using another [Power Strike]. {82}

Then the Guard Armor started to spin again, yet Ji-Han did not even curse as he was too busy preparing another [Power Strike]. {28}

And then the Guard Armor rammed him, making him fly through the air. {-45}

Damn it! So. Close!

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!" Shouted Naofumi and, with the centipede shield, speed in front of Ji-Han before the Guard Armor could come in for seconds.

"28 HP!" Ji-Han voiced agitated. "One more Power Strike and I got it!"

Ji-Han looked at the spinning Heartless, grit his teeth, and then ran past Naofumi.

"Han-san!" Akari shouted but he paid her no mind. He had only eyes for the Guard Armor. It was all just a matter of timing, wasn't it? He had managed to block its charge with Guard before, a skill needing timing. Was there really that much difference in using that moment to attack instead?

So he ran towards the Guard Armor, turned around when it zagged past him, always careful to keep it within his sight, waiting for the moment it would come at him.

But the moment never came. It just stopped at one point and stayed there, as if mocking him.

"Screw you!" He shouted as he ran towards it, but halfway on the way, the Guard Armor started to rotate again. No matter. He would end it now!

"[Power Strike]", he shouted but missed as the Guard Armor danced out of the way, zigzagging around the place again.

Damn, that thing was mocking him, wasn't it?

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!" Naofumi activated. But this time he wasn't running towards anyone to defend them. Instead he was rushing towards the Guard Armor itself. The Heartless hit the shield, flew into the opposite direction, hit the wall of a building and ricocheted away from that, directly towards Ji-Han.

"[Power Strike]!" Shouted Ji-Han finally for the last time as his attack brought the HP of the Heartless to {0} and slung him into the ground a bit away from him.

Unlike the other Heartless, however, it did not disappear at once. Instead it was shakingly trying to levitate itself upwards again. The round head rose one last time in defiance, that it fell down with a loud THUMP and stayed motionlessly on the ground. Then, out of the empty torso, rose a giant jewel in the shape of a heart. It rotated softly around its own axis until it became more and more transparent, in the end vanishing completely.

Then the head and torso dispersed into black particle, leaving some objects behind.

{+9166 EXP}

PING!

{Your level went up by 1.}

Oh, hell yeah.

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv8  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 98/450  
MP: 32/225

STR: 15 (14+1) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 12 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 16 ← (+0) →  
INT: 9 ← (+0) →  
WIS: 12 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 13 ← (+0) →

Points: 20  
Munny: 5 926}

Alright! Now he got even more HP, MP and points to spend on…

He was so getting some weights before this day was over. He was going to get his STR so high that it could not improve anymore through training and then put all of his points into it so that he would never forget to put in the points before a big fight! Seriously! How much damage could he have dealt, if he did have 30 STR?!

Ji-Han exhaled to calm himself down and closed the panel without allocating any points. The Guard Armor was supposedly the only boss monster in Traverse Town and so, adding points to STR now would just be a waste when he could still train them.

"Alright, everybody", he told his team. "Gather anything on the ground that might be useful. Whether they are item drops or the arrows Akari left behind. I'll take a look at what the Guard Armor has dropped…"

He trailed of as his gaze fell upon the items on the ground in front of him. Or, to be precise, the two large yellow and blue orbs that lay there.

"[Observe]!"

{[Munny Orb – Rank: Ultimate]  
Type: Currency  
The result of a system set up over Traverse Town by the Hero Union  
to transform all different currencies into a single usable one.}

"That thing dropped money?!" Ji-Han was completely dumbfounded as he took the Munny orbs, opened his [Status Window] again and put the orbs inside, increasing his Munny to {405 926}. Did that meant that those were legit?! Holy shit!

"So you get Munny when you kill a Heartless?" Revchi, who had appeared next to him, asked with interest.

"That's the first time that ever happened", Ji-Han refuted. "Of course, in games monster usually drop money but since here they only ever dropped items, I thought that was it. Can I even use the Munny without crashing the economy of Traverse Town?"

"Oh, that is your problem", Revchi noted gleefully as he turned to walk away. "I've already told Zenkichi of our success, so I am going ahead. I still have things to do."

With that Revchi walked away and Ji-Han looked towards the next objects.

"[Observe]."

{[Recovery Potion]  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 500 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

{[Recovery Potion]  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 500 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

Okay, two of the standard Recovery Potions. Looks like they were going to be a standard with boss-like enemies. And his Max-HP was also getting to the point where he did not feel like using one was wasting it.

He put them in the inventory and looked at the last item.

{[Guard Armor - Rank: Secret]  
Type: Armor  
Heavy armor resembling the Guard Armor-Heartless's torso.  
It changes the size to fit the wearer.  
Wearing it automatically adds a helmet, gauntlets and shin guards.  
Base Defense: 30}

What the-

Ji-Han picked up the armor with both of its hand and held it high into the air.

"A rare item!" He suddenly shouted from the top of his lungs, making his comrades give him odd looks but he didn't care.

Armor that changes the size to fit its wielder?! Sure, in games you generally can equip any person with any armor regardless of body figure of the character. But that was in games. In real life that was a different story. And his other drop items had been things that, besides the Lucid Shards, already existed in some way. But now his ability had created an item working on game logic. There were probably some people in Traverse Town and the rest of the multiverse who could replicate the effects through magic but that still didn't make this item drop any less special.

"Shua!" He called out to the Pokémon who quickly came towards him, holding two Wooden Arrows in his left hand.

"Thank you", he told him as he took the two arrows and put them in his inventory. "Would you mind trying on that armor for me?"

Without even questioning whether Ji-Han was serious because of the large size of the armor, he slipped into it. And, as advertised, the armor shrunk to fit his form, adding purple gauntlets around the hands, leg guards and a helmet. The result looked like someone had dressed up their pet. Especially the large helmet with the point on top seemed a bit ridiculous but at last it had no visor that blocked his vision.

"Can you walk?" Ji-Han asked and Shua tried it.

"Smear… gle. Smear… gle." It appeared that while he could walk, it still took a lot of effort. Seemed like one had to have some more STR before they could use it without trouble… hey, thinking about it, could this one actually be used instead of weights to train one's STR?! That seemed like a good idea.

"Is that the drop from the Guard Armor?" Naofumi inquired as he gave Ji-Han one piece of Scrap Lead and another Wooden Arrow.

"It also dropped two Recovery Potion and 400,000 Munny!"

"Your ability makes actual Munny?" The Hero of the Shield repeated dumbfounded. "Isn't that counterfeiting?"

"I don't know", he responded. "We'll have to ask Zenkichi-Ssi."

"I have gathered 11 Weasel Yokai Arrows!" Akari reported then and there. 11. That was one more than when they started the fight against the Guard Armor. So the Bizarre Archers dropped at last one useful thing.

"Alright", he decided. "Let's go to Zenkichi-Ssi and get the reward and ask what we should do about the Munny. After that we'll see if we still want to do something or call it a day. We don't need to go on until we can't."

"Right!" "Sure." "Smear!"

* * *

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Menace of the Dayless Town: Empty Guardian].  
Completion Award: +5 000 EXP.  
A payment of 25 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with most people of Twilight Town.  
Decreased reputation with Revchi, Gokudo Yuccot Kikansky and Koizumi Takashi.

Bonus Award for  
[Defeat the Guard Armor without Revchi's help.]:  
+2000 EXP.  
A payment of 25 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with Revchi.}

"Thank you very much for your hard work", Zenkichi exclaimed. "With the Guard Armor permanently taken care off, we don't need to deal with irregular Heartless-behavior anymore. At last until another big Heartless finds Traverse Town. But even then we will have one menace less to deal with."

"You're welcome", Ji-Han responded. "I am just glad that it's over. All those Air Soldiers were way more problematic than the Guard Armor. And that I had to do the rest alone in case Shua got a Crit and made us fail the mission."

"That would have been problematic" agreed Zenkichi. "But as you completed the main objective, here is your reward: 25 000 Munny for the completed mission and 25 000 Munny for managing to defeat the Guard Armor in combat."

Ji-Han thanked him as he put the money away.

"But regarding that", Ji-Han spoke up, "we do have a bit of a problem. One of the drops that Guard Armor… dropped, was actually Munny. 400 000 to be precise. What do we do with that now?!"

"Oh, that is not as much of a problem as you'd think", placated Zenkichi him. "Traverse Town often gets new influx on money when a world is devoured. And then that money moves to other worlds through the Leon Shop, Hero Union and TSAB and back from them to Traverse Town. And you, too, plan to travel to other worlds and buy and sell objects there. It would take an extremely large amount of Munny to shake the economy in the multiverse, if it is even possible."

"…really?" Mused Ji-Han surprised. "If you say so, I take your word for it."

"Yes, do not worry. Use it to your leisure when preparing for your quest."

"Alright." He turned to his companions. "That should be enough to buy food for our journey. Speaking of…" He turned back to Zenkichi. "…when does the Leon Shop actually restock?" Even if they had gotten more Munny than expected, it would still be better to buy the cheaper products and they got nearly all of their rice.

"That depends on how much they have sold", explained Mikage. "They generally only restock when they need to."

So the more they bought from them, the faster they could buy other things from them. Made sense since Traverse Town was just like an out-of-way town. But it was clearly not good for them.

"Looks like we have to go with their original idea of getting other things to fill out quota…" Ji-Han mused.

"Don't forget that we also need medical supplies", reminded Naofumi and Ji-Han nodded. Right. Even if they had enough money for food, it didn't matter if they didn't get the other stuff they needed like medical supplies and some more clothes.

"Right", he voiced his agreement out loud. "Then let's get to it. Goodbye, Zenkichi-Ssi, Mikage-Ssi."

"Please take care."

Yet once they left the White Ant, before they could go to the Shopping Arcade, there was someone else who wanted to talk to them.

"Congratulations on defeating the Guard Armor, Han Ji-Han", Zelretch exclaimed. "Do you now feel prepared to take on the Heartless of other worlds?"

"Ah, good day, Zelretch-Nim", greeted Ji-Han the old wizard. "You have already heard of it?"

"Indeed. And I applaud your decision on having Revchi stay back. You will rarely have as strong help in other worlds and thus it is vital for you to learn how to deal with strong foes on your own. Which brings me back to my question: Do you now feel prepared enough to take on the Heartless of other worlds?"

"We might are going to have some troubles if all Heartless in that world have a defense as high as the Guard Armor", admitted Ji-Han. "Which is why we will train at last a bit more before we start on the quest. Speaking of, thank you very much for all the features you put into the spaceship. There are so many useful things it is sometimes a bit overwhelming."

"Oh, most of the features were part of the FO Vimana before I found it", Zelretch responded. "I just upgraded some of them."

"That reminds me", interjected Naofumi. "When we were on the bridge, the Keyblade acted up and gave Ji-Han a quest to save a specific world. Did you expect that to happen when you added your Magic to the ship?"

"Interesting", Zelretch noted. "Did the Keyblade follow the wielder's subconscious wishes and found a world suitable for his goals? Or did the world itself reach out to a Keyblade Wielder as a cry of help? I am curious to see, where your journey will take you."

"Me, too", agreed Ji-Han and Zelretch nodded.

"Then if you have no other business with me, I shall take my leave", he told them, but Naofumi stopped him, quickly reminding Ji-Han of the Lucid Shards.

"Ah, that's right", exclaimed The Gamer. "We finally have 20 Lucid Shards! [Inventory]!"

He took the required 20 Lucid Shards out of the inventory and held them out to Zelretch.

"You have my gratitude", Zelretch responded as he took the jewel-like shards. "As promised, here your payment."

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Buying in Bulk: 20 Lucid Shards].  
Completion Award: +4 000 EXP.  
A payment of 150 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with Zelretch.}

{Your level went up by 1.}

Already? That was quick.

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv9  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 98/500  
MP: 54/250

STR: 15 (14+1) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 12 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 16 ← (+0) →  
INT: 9 ← (+0) →  
WIS: 12 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 13 ← (+0) →

Points: 25  
Munny: 455 926}

PING!

{Warning! HP reached critical 20 %.}

Oh, right. Now his Max-HP increased but his actual HP did not, making it fall into the critical zone without him taking any damage. Which unfortunately meant he could not just invest any points in VIT and heal himself or something like that.

Nevertheless, since there weren't any stronger enemies as far as he knew, he decided to ignore the warning, not wanting to use up one of his potions. Instead he picked the money from Zelretch and put it into his already open Status Window, meaning his Munny was now whooping {605 926}.

"Alright. Then let's see how far we get with this amount of cash." One step closer to starting the journey.

"Farewell then, Han Ji-Han", Zelretch told him. "I shall visit you once I have found a use for the Lucid Shards."

"Good bye."

* * *

"So this is the bookstore?" Ji-Han mused. It actually looked like a real bookstore. Glass windows with lots of books on display left and right of the single glass door. The books in question were all of different kinds. An English-Japanese dictionary, a book on cooking, one on camping, the English Version of [The Hobbit], a simple two-thirds red and one-third white book with two simple Japanese words, a bible and one with an orange-brownish one with a white David's star inside a circle were just some of them.

And once they went inside, there were literally rows of books, as if they were in a library instead of a bookstore. In fact…

"…isn't this a lot bigger than what it looks like from the outside?" Ji-Han voiced his confusion, making Noafumi turn to him eyebrow raised.

"You only noticed that now?" He asked. "The Leon Shop does the same thing. How else do you think they keep all the stuff contained in the middle of a city?"

"Oh… I guess that makes sense", Ji-Han admitted. Still, not noticing the Leon Shop was bigger on the inside after how long he had spend there? Pretty embarrassing.

PING!

{An ominous vibe had been detected.}

A what now?!

Ji-Han quickly spun around looking all over the place. Naofumi, instantly noticing his change in demeanor, quickly put forth his shield, his back to his comrades, eyes also scanning the surroundings.

"What happened?" He asked the Gamer who was just as confused as all his party members.

"I don't know", Ji-Han admitted. "My ability just suddenly said something like 'an ominous vibe detected'. I have no idea what it is…"

That was when his gaze fell upon a book lying on the counter. It stood on its side without falling thanks to its many pages, presenting its cover towards Ji-Han. It was brown, if a bit dusty, with the relief of a golden cross-like shape layered over a simple circle. Though calling it a cross was way too simple. It had a yellow orb in the middle with four extremely short poles going in each cardinal direction. At the end of each of those was a kite- or spearhead-like protrusion, having another small, traditional cross in a dark color painted on them. Out of all the protrusions the one pointing down was the longest, nearly touching the golden frame surrounding the symbol just like the ones to the side. The one pointing upwards was just as long as those at the side but thanks to the size of the book did not came close to the frame, which was actually interrupted right over it, giving it an ornamental end.

And the way it just stood there, was really unnerving. As if it was staring at him. As if it wanted something from him. Was that really just a simple book?"

"[Ob-" "What are you doing?" "-uwaah!"

Ji-Han nearly jumped when he heard the voice behind him, turning to face the newcomer. Then he had to turn some more as the person walked past him, towards the book and scooped it up and held it close to their chest.

[Glutton for Stories  
-Book Girl Owner-  
Lv8 Amano, Tohko]

Tohko was a young woman around his age, maybe a bit lower, with black eyes and black hair. The latter was especially extraordinary as she had to ankle-long braids of hair that flew around whenever she moved, completely attracting his attention at first. But another look revealed her straight, eyebrow long bangs and two shoulder-length strands of heir framing her extremely pale face.

Her clothes were actual looking like a School uniform, with a white blazer having a blue color adorned with a turquoise corn pattern and blue skirt as well as black knee-socks and white indoor schools.

"Geez", Tohko muttered as she turned towards Ji-Han and his friends. "In any case, thank you for coming. I'm the shop owner, Amano Tohko. How can I help you?"

"Ah, hello, I am Han Ji-Han", he greeted back. "We're looking for some study materials. Elementary School math in Japanese and then some science book at High School level in Korean."

"Textbooks?" Inquired Tohko, sounding disappointed. "But they are all so bland. Except for history there are all close to stale bread that you would to eat when you have nothing else. I've gotten some that were like buttered toast freshly prepared by a mother but none of them made the trip to Traverse Town.

"…What?"

At Ji-Han confused expression, Tohko was ripped out of her monologue and quickly shook her head.

"Sorry. Textbooks, right? Right this way!"

Quickly refocusing on the matter at hand, Tohko lead them through the long rows of books until they reached what she dubbed the "textbook" section.

"Okay, here we have 'First Steps – Numbers and Mathematics' for a Japanese Math book. Now onto Korean…" She moved a bit away and started looking at another section. "Ah, here, do you want physics or biology?"

"Let's go with physics for now", Ji-Han decided. Even if he only got the book to study to grind his INT, physics still seemed like it would be more applicable in other worlds than biology.

"Alright. Physics it is. That makes 7500 Munny for the math book and 54 000 Munny for the physics one. That is alright with you?"

"That works."

That went better than expected. Even with the clothes, first aid kid, food and weights he had bought before coming to the book store, he would still be over 500 000 Munny. Granted, they had only really bought the least amount necessary but to still have so much left, it looks like he could get some more spare clothes…

"Ah, please wait a moment!" Tohko stopped him as he went to give her the required Munny. "I need to check them off at the counter. Please go ahead while I put this girl back to the others."

This girl? The book with the cross?

"Do you have other magical books?" Inquired Naofumi. "Perhaps some that teach healing magic?"

"Healing magic?" Repeated Tohko. "Not any magic can be learned by anyone. Often you need an aptitude specific to the world the magic is from. The TSAB can teach you spells that most people with magic can use. That would be a lot easier than trying to find a book with magic you can use."

"We are trying to see if I can't cheat", Ji-Han told her. With all the stuff that had happened, he had forgotten about that but now that Naofumi mentioned it, he remembered. "We found out that I can learn a piloting skill as long as I have gotten my hands on the instruction manual. We want to see if that works with magic, too."

"Really?" She asked with interest. "I never got any skills when I ate books… though I have never eaten an instruction manual because they are so disgusting…"

"You eat books?" Ji-Han exclaimed surprised and she nodded.

"That's because I am a literature girl", she declared, puffing her non-existent chest out proudly. Huh. So her title [Glutton for Stories] was meant literally.

"Can we then now get to the magic books?" Naofumi urged impatiently and Tohko nodded.

"Right, this way!"

Tohko lead them further and further into the large bookstore until they reached yet another bookshelf.

"We're here", Tohko finally said and put her book into an empty space. As if it was just another book of many. And, to be fair, Ji-Han could not tell the difference between these supposedly magic books and the mundane ones… maybe this?

Ji-Han took out one of the books from the shelf. It had caught his eye because its spine was glistening like some crystal. Yet once he actually held it in his hands, it felt like any other book.

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Glass Magic: Tausend Scherben].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

"It works!" Ji-Han exclaimed enthusiastically, only for Tohko to quickly take it away by telling him, that one was 700 000 Munny.

"700 000?" Repeated Naofumi. "Isn't that high for a book that you admitted probably nobody else could use?"

"It's not", declared Tohko puffing out her chest proudly. "I always know how much a book is worth! Since I am a literature girl! For example, this one is 750 000 Munny, this one is the cheapest with 100 000 Munny…" Damn, that was a tiny one. It fit easily into the palm of his hand. "…That golden one up there is worth a billion…" Holy- "…and this little fellow here is literally priceless."

At the last one she pointed to the brown book with the golden one she had just put back. So they wouldn't be able to buy that one. And they were a far cry away from the golden one. But with the cheapest being 100 000 Munny, they actually could buy at last some of them.

Ji-Han took a hold of the small one and instantly got the PING with the message:

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Fire Magic: Torch Light].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

Huh, that one could maybe get useful when they were trying to fight against the monsters in the wilderness of Traverse Town… though he had Night Eye already and Akari wouldn't want to go there and hurt the beasts. So it would be a bit of a waste of money that they could use for something else.

"Then do you know which ones are healing magic?" Naofumi inquired and Tohko nodded.

"Here, this one is 850 000 Munny, this one is 600 000 Munny and… this… one…" Tohko tiptoed to try and get a blue one before Ji-Han took pity on her and took it out himself.

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Rain Magic: Shower of Healing].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

"…Is 750 000 Munny", Tohko finished for him and gave him the other two books.

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Plant Magic: Raíces de la Vida].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

Still, even the plant one was 600 000 Munny, meaning it was too expensive for them. They would have been able to buy it, if they hadn't invested into the first aid kids… and actually, they could still buy it if they sold those…

"Though I can't tell what kind of healing abilities they have," Tohko continued. "But I know that they are more inclined to healing than anything else and are connected to the elements Water, Wood and Wind."

In that case it probably would be better not to sell their first aid kids for magic. There was no telling if the magic would actually be useful or not.

"Then let's wait before magic books", he thus told his comrades, "and instead get some more food. I think farming mobs until we get enough cash will take just too long."

"Right", agreed Naofumi. "And there's no telling if the shops are still going to buy other stuff with how much we've already sold."

Oh, right, there was that problem, too. If they sold too much at once, the shops wouldn't have time selling stuff to get some Munny back and they would be forced to sell to the Leon Shop for less, increasing the time it would take to get the necessary amount of money… even if in this case it was probably more that they wouldn't want to buy new stuff while they were still processing the old ones…

"But you are still going to buy the textbooks?" Tohko interrupted his train of thoughts and Ji-Han nodded.

"Yes, we still need those", he confirmed. Those, some more food and a new set of clothes and they would be set.

"Okay", he decided, "let's finish our shopping and then head to bed so that we then can head to the other world first thing in the morning. Any objections?"

"I want to say goodbye to everyone", Akari noted and Ji-Han nodded.

"Yeah, we should do that, too", he agreed. "How about you go guys ahead and do that while I finish our shopping?"

"Yes", Akari spoke enthusiastically but Naofumi just shrugged.

"I don't need to do that, so I'll just use the time to fight against some more Heartless. Just call me, when you are finished."

"Right, until later then."

* * *

"I am honestly surprised", Shikamaru told Ji-Han as he studied Naofumi. "I never thought he of all people would become one of your companions. How did you get him to trust you?"

"I don't actually trust him", the Hero of the Shield denied, surprising the Gamer. "I just don't care what happens if he would betray me. That is all."

"Damn, that's harsh", responded Ji-Han while Shikamaru just nodded as if to say, "that explains it".

"It's the truth", Naofumi declared. "I will do everything to support you in your quest, but only because that is the only way to get Raphtalia back."

"That sounds like you are going to betray me at the first opportunity", noted Ji-Han and Naofumi shrugged.

"I am free to leave the party whenever I want, aren't I?" He denied. "And unless your goals are the opposite of mine, which would mean, making my world even less likely to be restored, which on its own already is a tall order considering you are the first shot in however to restore them, I have no reason to fight you. Would you call that betrayal?"

"Not really", admitted Ji-Han. He couldn't think of any way why Naofumi would go against him and Koyuki thought so, too.

"Don't worry", she reassured him. "He is still the most suited to be your companion."

Ji-Han smiled.

"Thanks Koyuki-Seonbae", he spoke to her. "You have really helped me out a lot."

"I am glad I could help", she responded earnestly happy and Ji-Han turned to the ninja.

"Thank you very much, too, Shikamaru-Ssi", he told him. "Have you already decided on what the favor should be?"

"I have some ideas", exclaimed the Nara, "but those can wait for once you are back in Traverse Town."

"Right", he nodded. They should go. He was already started to get tired and they finished all their preparations. There wasn't any reason to procrastinate, was there?

"Then, goodbye everyone, we'll be going."

"Take care!" Came the answer threefold from Koyuki, Shikamaru and Shion.

Ji-Han nodded and stretched out his arm, so that his party members could hold onto it.

"Beam me up!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And that's the first real boss fight: The Guard Armor. And if it hadn't been weak against the Power Strike, they would have been hard-pressed to do more than minor damage against it. After all, in real life it never mattered how strong you are, the enemies will not suddenly be weaker. Though on that note, the Guard Armor does not bring new Heartless to Traverse Town every time it shows up. They generally are just more common, active and stronger. A new kind of Heartless is just an easy way to tell that it's coming.

Speaking of real life, in real-life the items are generally a lot more diverse than the items in video games. So I've invested a lot of time in finding different types of the same item. For example, what kind of leather is generally used, different tanning processes that exist, what kind of scrap metal is generally brought and so forth. And then I've got to set a price for them. That means I have to research how expensive they normally are and then how valuable they would be in Traverse Town. And with (nearly) every drop item comes a new shield for Naofumi. Though that's literally the smallest issue when making a new drop item.

Next on the list of things to mention would be Shua and his attack Sketch. Normally Smeargle learn Sketch every ten levels. But since the party members adopt Ji-Han's Gamer-system, it changed to every level. One every ten levels is just too long for Shua to be useful. And it also prevents one from having to calculate just which level in Pokémon is equivalent to which level in The Gamer.

Lastly, there are the magic books. In The Gamer Ji-Han gets books for new abilities from the underground market, but since that doesn't exist in Traverse Town, he'd have to get skill books for magic in a different way, if one isn't satisfied with skills from drop items. I've decided on grimoires from Black Clover. And while the grimoires write in the spells of their user and so are not limited to one, they have, as far as I know, one to start with and a certain "element" and direction the user is most proficient in like healing, attack, support or traps and so on. Which decides which ability Ji-Han would get from absorbing them.

Though the magic books aren't the only thing from Black Clover. Revchi is just one of them. He's one of the guys who are bad in canon but play nice because people who don't play nice in Traverse Town don't last long. What's with Zelretch, Yuuko and Yato around and the Hero Union and TSAB having an interest in it. That's way too many heavy hitters.

The person who owns the magical books, Tohko, was chosen because of how her whole existence would be a warning sign to any books to act out, making even the most unruly books stay mostly calm, no matter how dangerous they actually would be for Tohko.

The last important shop owners for now are Michiru and Mitsuyo. It's actually quite difficult to find memorable tailors in anime or manga. So instead of bothering with that, I decided to make a cosplay the owner of the clothing store, just like I made a school nurse the first doctor, showing once again the difference between supply and demand in the post-apocalyptic town. That those two aren't human is a nice bonus.

Now for the last group of people introduced in Traverse Town we have Amami Hibiki and her two ghost friends. They are more or less just random citizens with no other purpose than to flesh out Traverse Town with people who wouldn't join Ji-Han.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	8. Chapter 7: Tournament

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, **merendinoemiliano**.

Just warning you guys, before they reach their destination they've got two full days on the ship. So if it's kinda fillery, please don't mind it. If I just jump over the travel, some things wouldn't make sense later on.

Chapter 7: Tournament

{You have slept for eight hours in a comfortable bed.  
Your HP and MP have been fully restored.}

So the bed had been comfortable enough for his ability to give him the full bonus. He hadn't been so sure about that when he had decided to sleep in the captain's quarters the day before. Still, he had to try it out. After all, if they were going to travel, it would be bad for him to sleep so far away from the bridge just because he wanted to have the luxurious feeling of the guest rooms. After all, even if they had autopilot, that didn't mean nothing could happen on their journey.

So it was better to get used to sleeping next to the bridge in case he had to wake up and quickly get there because of space pirates or something. And in his opinion, it didn't feel that much different from the guest room. The biggest difference was really that the room had no own shower.

Ji-Han waved the message away and instantly activated "[Hidden Key]" to use up his first MP of the day. He then stood up and changed his clothes. Then he went to the showers, where he decided that he had used up enough MP for now and deactivated the ability. After coming back out within seconds thanks to the magical instant-cleaning, he decided to go the canteen to wait for the others and get some studying done while he was at it. He did buy the physics book to raise his INT, after all.

Speaking of the stat grinding, Ji-Han also equipped the weights he had gotten from Seikuu. Even if he would be sitting around for the most part, there wasn't really any reason not to.

That was how he was found by Shua two INT-Increases later. Just like him, the Pokémon was already dutifully wearing his heavy armor for STR-grinding. Yet also like him, Ji-Han had him focus on studying for now. Not much, considering Naofumi was sure to show up soon but he let him draw some numbers. Though with a pen on paper instead of his tail like the Smeargle originally tried to. The brush just wasn't made for small writing and using it would use up too much paper too fast.

Meanwhile Ji-Han went to the training room to see if Naofumi was already up and about, which he was.

"Come to the canteen once you're finished", he told the Hero of the Shield. "Then we can start our journey."

"Do you even need me there… no, wait, I'll come. [Training Cancel]."

As soon as Naofumi spoke the last words, the simulation stopped.

"You didn't need to stop", Ji-Han told him surprised, but the Hero of the Shield shook his head.

"I can do another simulation any time", he explained. "But now that you are awake, we should start to travel already. And I want to be there in case you break something."

"Oh, okay", Ji-Han acknowledged, even if he was a bit miffed at Naofumi's comment. But he did his best to ignore it and instead called out over the voice chat to meet at the bridge. Right after he did, clattering noises like from a Soldier-Heartless could be heard and Shua came happily running out from the canteen, the math book and paper under his arm.

From there it took just a bit more time until they all reached the bridge.

"Have you even bothered to figure out how it works yet?" Naofumi suddenly inquired, making Ji-Han flinch.

"I-I forgot about that", he admitted. "B-But I do know that you need to do it from the lower level!"

Having said that, he quickly went down and pulled out the manual. From the looks of it, travel and maneuvering was controlled normally from the seat directly in front of the captain's one. Using the manual as a guide, he first tried moving with the controls, turning the FO Vimana around. For that, he had not only a look out of the window, but also a diagram replacing one of the windows, showing a blue triangle-like object that turned with the spaceship and a small transparent orb of yellow color which stayed stationary.

Playing around with the controls, suddenly next to the orb appeared a label saying {212-00-8432-zei-lwgvr}. That looked like a world's name. Was that Traverse Town?

Some more playing around later and they zoomed into the yellow orb and showed the picture that Ji-Han had taken the day before of Traverse Town when he had been scanning it. Having confirmed it was indeed Traverse Town, he quickly looked to where he could rename the world.

Soon he had opened a list of worlds, similar to the list of Teleporters he had when he first tried them out.

{  
X → 212-00-8432-zei-lwgvr  
X - 135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk  
0 - Back  
}

One renaming later and it showed:

{  
X → Traverse Town (212-00-8432-zei-lwgvr)  
X - 135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk  
0 - Back  
}

So it wouldn't replace the ID completely like with the teleporter locations. Good to know. He moved the curser down.

{  
X - Traverse Town [212-00-8432-zei-lwgvr]  
X → 135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk  
0 - Back  
}

Then he pressed their equivalent of "ENTER" and another diagram showed up, with a two yellow orbs, one with the label {Traverse Town}, the other with the label {135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk}, both connected by a blue curve. In front of Ji-Han also opened another window saying:

{Course plotted.  
Estimated Travel Time: 002:11:46:00  
Do you wish to engage autopilot to  
location [135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk]?}  
{YES} {NO}

"Anyone still having second thoughts?" Ji-Han asked into the round and Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"Get on with it!"

"Smeargle."

"Right, right." With that he started the autopilot and the spaceship moved, while the window's message changed to {Estimated Time of Arrival: 002:11:45:59} and counting down.

Now their adventure had officially started. Not that he actually felt any different from before…

"With that done, I'll go back to training", Naofumi decided. "If you guys study, try to do it on the bridge. I don't think anything will happen but just in case. And note down the time if any of you gets hungry. Speaking of, do you have some food outside your inventory?"

"Not so far, why?"

"I don't want to get you every time I get hungry or thirsty so put some stuff into the fridge already. It uses magic to prevent the food from going bad so you don't need your inventory for that. I don't care if you keep some on hand but put some of it where we can get it!"

"Right, right, sorry. Shua, are you going to keep studying?"

"Smear!"

"Then look out of the windows from time to time to see if anything appears. I'll be right back."

"Smear!"

With that he and Naofumi left the room, both to go do what they said they would. Seeing the less than stellar illumination of the corridors, the Hero of the Shield gave Ji-Han the advice to grind his skill Night Eye in case the other world also had only nighttime, or they arrived at nighttime there.

Which he did. And while Night Eye cost quite a bit of MP, it was also fast in leveling up. In fact, by the time they reached the canteen, it was already leveled once more from before they went to the spaceship, being now at level 3. Unfortunately that just meant it stayed activated for longer, not that it cost less MP, which would have been better for grinding. But there wasn't anything he could do to change that. Only making sure to not miss when his MP recharged enough for another Night Eye.

So he just put the food in the refrigerator and went back to Shua. Nothing happened so far in the small time he was away, but as he sat down to do some more studying, he got a message.

PING!

{Continued training of your body causes  
your STR to go up by 1.}

Alright! Getting those weights had been the right decision! And now he had two and a half days until he had to fight again, making it the best time to increase his low stats. He was still a bit peeved that it was so difficult to raise his INT. He actually had raised it up to 11 thanks to his studies already, but thanks to his perk [Muscle-Headed Keyblade-Fighter], his effective level of INT was still stuck at 9. Honestly, he currently would have preferred to lose that Perk. The Increase of STR didn't seem to be worth the decrease in INT.

Yet once again, there was nothing he could do about that. Except studying even more, which he did.

Though after around half an hour and another INT increase, he got fed up with it and instead decided to run around the ship a bit, grinding VIT and STR until he was ready to go back to Physics. That repeated for some time until he came back from his running at some point and Shua was pointing towards his armor and mimicking eating something.

"Are you hungry?" Ji-Han guessed, earning him an affirmative "Smear!"

"Alright." Ji-Han took a look at the travel time.

{Estimated Time of Arrival: 002:07:37:51}

That was, around four hours? So Shua got hungry after around four hours after leaving Traverse Town. What about Naofumi?

When he asked the question over the voice-chat, Naofumi proclaimed that he was still good.

"So", Ji-Han asked Shua. "Do you want your centipede raw or cooked or fried?"

"Smeargle", the Pokémon responded and just shrugged.

"Alright. Then how about one of everything?"

"Smear!"

"Alright."

Having arrived at the kitchen, Ji-Han gave Shua a piece of Oumukade meat and the Pokémon took it in both of his hands and took a bite out of it. Meanwhile Ji-Han took a pot with salted water and a frying pan and put some olive oil into it.

The olive oil started sizzling and he put a piece of Oumukade meat into it. He then put just some salt onto it, wanting to keep it simple for now. Then, once it started burning, he turned it around. Soon the water also started to boil and Ji-Han put another piece of centipede meat in it.

"Smeargle?" The Pokémon got Ji-Han's attention, holding out his now empty hands. So he wasn't satisfied with waiting until Ji-Han got the others ready. Seeing that, the Gamer quickly got one from his inventory to give it to Shua. Even if the Smeargle ate enough raw meat to be satisfied before Ji-Han finished, the advantage of the inventory was, that it wouldn't get to waste as he could just keep it there until needed.

Unfortunately he seemed to hit the bad 50% as he was grilling the meat, as it turned out burned, even as he got the new recipe:

{Registered Recipe: [Salted and Fried Oumukade Meat]  
Variant: 1; Rank: Normal  
Ingredients: Oumukade meat, salt, olive oil  
Tools: frying pan, spatula  
Preparations: [Details]}

And when he then used [Observe] on the Fried Oumukade Meat…

{[Salted and Fried Oumukade Meat, Version 1 – Rank: Inferior]  
Type: Food  
A piece of Oumukade Meat that has been salted and fried in a pan.  
Thanks to mistakes in the creation process it was burned too much.}

So, even though the original rank of the dish was [Normal], thanks to messing up it turned to [Inferior]. That made him wonder if there were actual dishes that were [Inferior] from the get go and if these would always turn out well, regardless of what he did. Though if there was, it wasn't [Cooked Oumukade Block, Version 1]. That one also had a rank of [Normal]:

{[Cooked Oumukade Block, Version 1 – Rank: Normal]  
Type: Food  
A piece of Oumukade Meat in the shape of a square  
block that has cooked in salted water.  
Restores 1 HP}

Wait. Cooked food can restore HP?! That was new! Was it because it was made from monster meat or did he just never notice?!

"What are you doing?" Naofumi who had suddenly appeared inquired.

"I am cooking", he answered. "And I just figured out that a successful cooked part of Oumukade meat can restore HP! It's just 1 but considering our only other healing items are three potions and whatever is in the first-aid kids, that is quite an improvement!"

"Then we got quite lucky that you decided to cook suddenly", the Hero of the Shield noted as he took out a bottle of water from the fridge and opened it.

"You can't expect me to eat the meat of a centipede raw", reminded him. "So I tried cooking and grilling. Though the grilling was unfortunately a failure so I don't know if a success would also restore HP…"

"Do you even need to eat in the first place?" Asked Naofumi. "Didn't you have the body of a Gamer that made that unnecessary? Really, why did we bother buying so much food…"

That was actually a good point. Why did they buy so much? Naofumi could survive entirely on water, he was the Gamer and Shua practically an animal…

"Oh, right, it was for Akari", he remembered. "She's human so we needed some real food. Speaking of her, have you already seen her today?"

"No, I haven't", denied Naofumi. "Is she still sleeping? Shouldn't she have already woken up by now?"

Confused, Ji-Han and Naofumi opened their [Party Options] at the same time.

{  
Han Ji-Han LV: 9 Ẅ  
HP: 500/500  
MP: 42/250

Iwatani, Naofumi LV: 22  
HP: 3950/3950  
MP: 957/1631

Shua LV: 5  
HP: 600/600  
MP: 150/150

Akaza, Akari LV: 13 Ꚛ  
-Out of Range-

Hitoyoshi, Zenkichi LV: 174 Ꚛ  
-Out of Range-

Revchi LV: 81 Ꚛ  
-Out of Range-

}

Huh, so he had forgotten to kick Zenkichi and Revchi out of his party? But if they were {-Out of Range-} just as Akari was, did that mean…

"…have we forgotten Akari-Yang in Traverse Town", he asked his companion, who nodded.

"That seems to be the most logical explanation", he answered and Ji-Han sighed.

"Looks like we are heading back to Traverse Town", he spoke as he headed towards the bridge. "Hopefully Akari isn't too angry at us for forgetting her…"

The way back was just as non-exiting as the way there. Shua ate both the cooked centipede, as well as another fried one that Ji-Han had managed to create, this time without messing up. Which also earned him a level-up. As Shua was then full, Ji-Han put the burned Fried Oumukade into the inventory. They couldn't waste food just because it didn't turn out perfect and Ji-Han only had made an exception this time to see what Shua liked better. Raw, cooked or grilled. It was cooked in this case.

Afterwards Shua and Ji-Han went back to studying, interrupted by bouts of running in the latter's case. Until they finally reached their previous destination.

"Let's get this over with", Naofumi declared, annoyed at the waste of time. And to a degree, Ji-Han had to agree. The trip took two and a half days and now they had already traveled eight hours without getting one step closer to their goal. But it wasn't Akari's fault. Both he and Naofumi had forgotten to take her with them and thus even the Hero of the Shield didn't voice actual complaints as they teleported down in front of Chie's Apartment Building.

"Hey, Akari", Ji-Han addressed through the voice chat, "we are back. Sorry for leaving you behind like that. Where are you now?"

Ji-Han waited for an answer but none came.

"Great", Naofumi voiced in annoyance, directing Ji-Han's attention towards him. "Eight hours on her own and she already got herself killed."

WHAT?!

"What do you mean, she got herself killed?" Ji-Han demanded to know. "Just because she isn't responding right now, doesn't mean she's dead!"

"{Out of Range}", Naofumi quoted from the panel in front of him. "Even though Hitoyoshi-san and Revchi are back in our party, there is still no change with Akaza. She is still {Out of Range}. Why do you think that is?"

"That still doesn't mean she is dead!" Ji-Han refuted. "Maybe the party system doesn't work over the whole Traverse Town. Or maybe she didn't think we would come back and asked someone else to take her there. That could be possible, right?"

"Possible, sure", Naofumi conceded. "But you don't even believe it yourself, do you? Why don't you go around asking if anyone has seen her then?"

"I will", Ji-Han declared firmly. "I'm sorry to stall the saving of worlds, but I can't leave Traverse Town without finding out where Akari-Yang is!"

"I've feared you would say that", came the response, but not from Naofumi. "What a drag."

"Shikamaru-Ssi!" Ji-Han addressed the newcomer who was tiredly leaning against the railing of the second floor of the apartment building. The Nara just groaned.

"Tone down the volume, already", he demanded. "Man, you guys are loud. Couldn't you have come ten minutes earlier? I was just starting to drift off."

"Sorry", responded Ji-Han sheepishly. "But we came as soon as we noticed we forgot to bring one of our party members with us."

"Akarin", Shikamaru interjected. "Of course you forgot her. Everybody forgets her. That's her most defining feature, after all. A condition that reduces her presence and makes it difficult for people to acknowledge her. She isn't the only person in Traverse Town with a similar condition, but hers is the most prominent. It is no surprise you forgot to wait for her."

"As interesting as that is", interrupted Naofumi, "does that help us tell us where she is now? Or are you saying that even Ji-Han's ability forgot she exist?"

Shikamaru sighed.

"What a drag… she turned into a Heartless."

Ji-Han froze at the blunt statement. That… that couldn't be right, could it? People didn't turn into Heartless in Traverse Town anymore. Yato said so!

But Shikamaru wasn't finished.

"She actually showed up right after you left", he continued. "Running towards the place you had stood before in a hurry, completely ignoring Koyuki-san. Then she fell on her knees and, before we could reach out to her, turned into a Heartless."

"On her own?" Naofumi exclaimed. "Not that I am calling you a liar, but if what you say is true, shouldn't she already be used to be forgotten all the time? Why would that be the one that sends her into despair? Sounds oddly convenient. Or inconvenient."

But Ji-Han's face became ashen as he heard Naofumi's comment.

"It was my fault", he breathed out horrified. Just like Raiga and Seikuu had said, hope easily turns into despair. "I have given her hope and then took it away, turning it into despair. It's all my fault."

"Oh, give it a rest", Naofumi told him without any sympathy. "It's her own fault for having any hope in the first place."

"What the- are you fucking serious right now?!" Ji-Han shouted angrily. "Akari died and all you say is 'it's her own fault'?!"

"Oi, drop that self-righteous attitude", the Hero of the Shield retorted, also starting to sound agitated. "She knew of her condition. Yet she still joined us. She should have known that we would forget her at some point. Thinking that it would have been different, is just stupid. And I will not have you break down because of someone else's stupidity! I've joined you because you are so far my only hope in restoring Raphtalia so shut up and get on with it!"

"At last that guy can still be restored!" Ji-Han bit back. "But Akari wasn't lost with her world. She turned into a Heartless! There is no bringing her back! All because I forgot her!"

"And I am telling you that doesn't matter! If she really wanted to prevent herself from being forgotten than she should have told you and stuck with you all the time. That she never spoke up about this when we split up is her fault not yours!"

"That's enough", interrupted Shikamaru muttering something that suspiciously sounded like "what a drag".

"This is getting nowhere, so listen", he said aloud. "Akari's loss is a tragedy. No matter how you look at it. But Naofumi has a point when he says that she should have told you about her condition. Only those that ask for help, can also receive it. The problem is that people with depressions often pretend that everything is fine. And Akari's condition made it hard to notice her and thus even harder to notice her troubles. Add to that the fact that the presence of Heartless lowers the threshold for death out of depression and takes away the chance to think one last time before you act, and Akari's death seems like it had been inevitable. At the very least, giving you alone the blame is faulty when it happened through the interplay of so many factors. And it certainly won't help anyone.

"However", he added. "It doesn't change the fact that Akari was a member of your party when she died. As such it falls upon you as the commanding officer to take responsibility nonetheless."

"Responsibility?" Naofumi repeated. "What's that supposed to mean? Didn't you just agree that it's not his fault?"

"That's not what I meant", denied Shikamaru. "I am telling him that now that a person under his command died, he's the one who'll have to go and inform the next of kin."

Ji-Han's face, which had taken on the more red color of anger with Naofumi's tactless comments and had turned back to a normal color with Shikamaru's logical explanations, was now, once again, white as ash.

No way… how was he supposed to explain that to Akari's family?! Damn it, this wasn't what he signed up for! They were supposed to be traveling around and saving worlds. Not die before they even started!

For a small moment, Ji-Han was actually angry at Akari for dying. The he realized what he was doing and that anger was instantly drowned by guilt. It wasn't like Akari had actually wanted to die. Sure, there was the whole "death by depression"-thing. But that was because of the Heartless. Akari was so pure-hearted she couldn't bear the sign of a monster bug in pain. Under normal circumstances she would most likely have refused to die just because it might hurt others. And she had been in Traverse Town for who knows how long, refusing to let the death of her world bring her down and still went to do her best. But the Heartless used her moment of weakness and took her heart, taking away her chance to rise again after falling. It was all the Heartless' fault! Why couldn't they just attack physically like normal monsters? He was a gamer, not a psychologist! He had no experience with depressed people! Was he expected to suddenly be all therapeutic just because he had a Keyblade?! Wasn't that just unreasonable?!

"Oi, Ji-Han, you still there?" Naofumi suddenly spoke up, interrupting his train of thoughts.

Right, he had gotten of track. But at last he was now calm.

"I'm sorry", he responded. "It's just… it's just a lot to take in. From one day to the next Akari is suddenly dead even though she had been so lively before and she was still a child. And she didn't even die in battle. She died when she was away from us. In some kind of bizarre mixture between suicide and murder. And the culprits are some kind of alien creatures right out of a video game who don't even need to be near people to kill them. Just what kind of bullshit is that?!"

Ah, he got angry again.

"Yes", agreed Shikamaru, "the Heartless are one of the worst enemies to face. That is why the Keyblade is so important. Something that can finally destroy the Heartless for real."

"Not that it helped Akari at all", noted Ji-Han bitterly. "Unless I can find the origin of all Heartless and destroy it, even my Keyblade won't be able to deal with all of them. Do you think something like that exist?"

"Maybe, but finding it won't help you much", exclaimed Shikamaru. "Even if they had originally come from one specific place, now they have already traveled to enough places that they can increase their numbers there even if you were to seal away the origin. And the multiverse is too large for you to find all of their current central hives."

"Damn it", cursed Ji-Han. There went that plan.

"Deal with what you can deal", Naofumi told him. "You can't save everyone in the whole multiverse. Even without Heartless, people die all the time. Save those that you can save and don't beat yourself up about those you couldn't."

Ji-Han gave him a funny look.

"You mean like Akari?"

"Yes, like Akari."

Ji-Han sighed.

"Right, I get it, I get it", he conceded. "But I will still have to take responsibility. Does anyone know who Akari's next of kin are?"

"I don't think she had any living relatives after her world got devoured by the Heartless", Shikamaru commented. "But she should have had some people who were close to her."

Close to her …like the lesbian cloth designers?!

Ji-Han was once again filled with dread. These two had expressed their hesitation of letting Akari venture out and now he would have to tell them that she died under his watch, or rather, because she hadn't been under his watch?! But that was the Heartless' fault! He was… he was going in circles. He had to live with the consequences.

"Let's go", he told Naofumi and Shua, who had for the whole duration of the conversation just stood quietly next to them, unsure what to do. "I know where we have to go."

He held out his hand to let the others join him in his teleport back to the spaceship. That was fastest and he still had to gather all of Akari's stuff. Since they had been made by the Akechi's and they had been close to her, this seemed like the right course of action.

* * *

"I am terrible sorry!" Ji-Han spoke, his hands firmly at his side, his upper body and with it his head lowered enough that he couldn't even see the two Akechi woman. But if he could have, he would have seen both of them staring at him with wide eyes of a completely shocked and disbelieving expression.

"Akari, Akari has died", he continued. "Not in battle, but because her depression turned her into a Heartless. I…" Ji-Han wanted to say more, but the words failed him. He wanted to say something so badly, but what should he say? Could he say? There were no words he could think of that would be enough. Thus, he stayed silent, frozen in that position, not wanting to look up and meet either of their eyes.

"W-what?" Mitsuyo finally managed to get out, still trying to comprehend what Ji-Han was telling them. "Why… How?"

"I-I forgot her. When we went to the spaceship, I forgot to include her. To wait for her. I've been told that she arrived right afterwards and broke down then and there. Enough to turn into a Heartless."

"You… how could you!" Mitsuyo had grabbed onto his shoulders in anger and forcefully pulled him up. Ji-Han flinched when his eyes met her rage-filled one and he instinctively looked away.

"How could you?" She repeated. "Because of you, because of you… look at me!"

"Mitsuyo!" The one who interrupted her was Michiru who had shouted the name of her lover and hugged her from behind.

"It's enough", the one-horned demi-human spoke. "It's not his fault."

Mitsuyo trembled.

"But Akari… Akari is…"

"Yes", agreed Michiru. "But you know about her condition. It's not his fault."

Mitsuyo let go of Ji-Han and fell down onto her knees, a sobbing mess in the arms of her lover.

"Thank you for telling us", Michiru told Ji-Han calmly. But he could see that it was a forced calm, as traces of tears made their way into her eyes. "But for now it would be better if you left us alone."

Ji-Han just nodded and turned around, walking out of the house without looking back. He would call Yato and give him the items instead… oh, wait, there was a lot, he wouldn't be able to carry them all… maybe he should ask at the Leon Shop if they could store it and give it to them later?

As it turned out, they could. And after hearing the reason why, he wouldn't even need to pay a fee. Even if that made him a bit dissatisfied, though he couldn't tell why.

Nevertheless, he was now in the back with the [Resigned Demon Lord] Fino and loaded out all of Akari's belongings. Her t-shirts and her skirts, her underwear and socks, her jackets and her pajamas. Her toothbrush with a cup and her toothpaste. Her tissues and even the pack of chopsticks that Ji-Han had no idea why she had those. One after another, he put them down into cardboard boxes. And with each one of those his inventory got one space smaller. One after another.

Taking them all out took a lot longer than putting them in. But in the end all of her belongings had been pulled out and given away. Ji-Han took a look through the inventory, to make sure he missed nothing, when his gaze fell upon his smartphone. Like in a trance he pulled out the electronic device and switched it on. He wondered if it had always taking this long to start up. It felt agonizingly slow… second after second after second after second after second after second after, oh, there was the password screen.

Ji-Han quickly put the code in and went to his "Images"-folder. There it was, the picture of Akari and Shua, snuggling together after a long day. Now the only thing left of her.

"[Beam me up!]"

Before anyone could even do so much as shout out in surprise, Ji-Han had vanished from the Leon Shop and reappeared in the dimly lit teleporter room. The smartphone fell from his hand as he sank on his knees. Tears started to fill his eyes as he took one deep breath.

And then he screamed. All of his anger, his sadness, his frustration, his powerlessness, he screamed it all out, filling the empty room with his despair. Despair, over the sheer unfairness of the situation. The loss of a young life and his own powerlessness to save it.

* * *

Ji-Han didn't know how long he had stayed like this but at some point he had to tears left. Shakingly he stood up. He picked up the smartphone and put it back in his inventory. Then he beamed down, hoping the others hadn't needed to wait too long for him.

"Finally got it out of your system?" Naofumi greeted the Gamer after he had gone back to the storage area of the Leon Shop, apparently having waited this whole time for him. As well as Shua who came running over to him as fast as he could in his armor and hugged his right leg.

"I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly", Ji-Han apologized. "But I… had to be alone for a moment."

"Not that I can't understand that", exclaimed Naofumi. "But going to the spaceship means that we'll lose our connection to your party and thus we can't see whether or not you became a Heartless afterwards."

Fear gripped Ji-Han's heart. Could that happen? Could he meet with so much despair on the journey that he himself turned into a Heartless?!

"Don't second-guess yourself now", interjected Naofumi, apparently guessing his thoughts. "You are the only one able to pay the Heartless back for what they did and the only one who can save the worlds. I would think that you wouldn't want them to win like that."

Ji-Han's expression turned grim, but full of determination.

"You are right", he conceded. "Our quest got off to a bad start, but that was just the first round. I will make the Heartless regret giving me such motivation!"

"Points for the attitude", Naofumi noted. "Ready to go?"

"Yes", responded Ji-Han and gave the Hero of the Shield a hand-shake. Shua was still clinging to him and so he didn't need to worry about losing him as he went [Beam me up!] and set course for the first world, he would save from the Heartless.

Definitively.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

I know how this chapter is incredibly shorter than the other ones, but I found it better to end the story there. Even though I have already the next part written, it doesn't really fit the current mood. And what a mood that is. Traverse Town had already dropped hints of its darkness, but this is the first time it had shown up so strikingly. Poor Akari. I really like her and her concept of a character but unfortunately this story is supposed to be realistic. Thus her current problem. Of course, you could call me cruel for including her in the first place, but I am an author and while I like her, there was no one else who could take her place in the story.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	9. Chapter 8: Tournament (True)

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your review, **merendinoemiliano**.

Alright, after the unexpected departure from the track last chapter, here's the real fillery journey.

Chapter 8: Tournament (True)

Now they had, once again, two and a half until they reached the other world. As Ji-Han currently didn't feel like studying, he decided to check out the training room instead to do something physical. Additionally, he had decided to spend some of his points. He had originally planned to keep them back until he actually needed them, but then he had noticed that with all their time in Traverse Town, his MP had only gone back up to 100, enough for 2 times Night Eye, meaning 26 seconds. If he needed to get into any places where it was dark, that was way too short. So he started looking through his status window, tipping on every word to see if there wasn't a way to increase his MP-Regeneration.

And there was: WIS. Not only was WIS the stat that showed one's defense from mental attacks, it also increased his MP-Regeneration. On that note, he had also found out that VIT increased his Max-HP and INT his Max-MP, but those weren't that important at the moment. Especially since he could grind those. But he couldn't grind WIS. And so he had less qualms about using up his points to bring WIS up to speed with his other stats – and then above them once he realized that for every 5 points of WIS, his MP-Regeneration would increase by 1.

So, after using up half of his points to bring his WIS to 25, higher than even his STR with the effects of [Muscle-Headed Keyblade-Fighter], he now had an MP-Regeneration of 5 per minute. That was more than twice before he had decided to put in his points. It still wasn't at the level where he could spam abilities in combat without running out of MP, but for leveling them up it was definitively an improvement.

That finished, he went to go training. Naofumi was already there and together with Shua they tried out the survival-mode: Holding out 15 minutes against ten respawning [Holographic Drone]s.

Things went pretty well and even if they got hit, they never got any actual HP-damage. That had actually been one of his concerns, that his ability would treat the simulated attacks like real ones. It was, after all, a video game. But luckily his ability accounted for that and gave them something like a simulated HP that appeared below his regular one in his [Status Window]:

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv9  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 500/500  
SP: 100/100  
MP: 18/250

STR: 20 (19+1) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 18 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 16 ← (+0) →  
INT: 16 (18-2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 25 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 13 ← (+0) →

Points: 12  
Munny: 390 517}

Using [Observe] on the holographic enemies also gave an interesting description:

{Holographic Drone Lv15  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $100/100  
MP: $1000/1000  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: Data  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its laser attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $10 VIT: $20 DEX: $40  
INT: $25 WIS: $25 LUK: $0}

If Ji-Han had to guess, he would say the Dollar-Symbol was supposed to represent the fake, "simulated" stats it had. Yet like the description said, it was treated real for the training, reducing his simulated HP, the SP. On that note, the SP wasn't exactly a health bar. It was more like a point display where reaching {0} would automatically end the simulation. Though they could actually raise the amount, just like he could increase or decrease the simulated stats of the holographs.

Not that they needed it considering they managed to get through the whole training without losing all of their current SP, even if it was a close-call. Because they had gone all at once they had underestimated the strength of the holographs, resulting in Naofumi having to work overtime to protect them.

Still, near the end of the simulation something incredible happened: His Keyblade Mastery had leveled up, followed shortly by Blunt Weapon Mastery afterwards. And as his Keyblade Mastery had reached level 24, which meant that another skill was inbound. Unfortunately the skill for that level had been Observe, one of the first spells he ever got, so he only got two levels for that skill out of it. Seriously, not saying that Observe wasn't extremely useful, but did his ability really thought he wouldn't get that skill at some point earlier? Though to be fair, those two levels weren't useless as he was now able to see the value of items and elemental resistances of monsters. As in, things like Heartless and the Imitations. Shua didn't count for some reason.

But more importantly, as his Keyblade Mastery leveled up within the training room, it meant that as long as he was fighting against enemies, he could grind the skill there! Even if there was only one enemy. So, like he did with the Heartless in Traverse Town, he could go running with a holographic enemy on his tail, and level up his VIT, STR, Keyblade Mastery and Blunt Weapon Mastery at the same time!

The downside of this idea was, that it blocked the training room for the duration of his timing, which did not sit well with Naofumi, who didn't have anything else to do besides fighting. So besides the one time Naofumi went for a 15-minute "meal" break, they instead decided to try out the different modes. Besides "Survival", there was "Escort", which, as the name suggested, dealt with protecting a target that was standing in place or moving around the room, as well as "Combat", which was just straight out fighting until no enemies were left. There was also "Practice", which just set up some stationary targets to try new skills on.

But the last and most interesting mode had been "Tournament". In this one you would fight against groups of enemies one after another and had to start from the beginning if you lost even once. There was option of making your own tournament like some kind of video game editor, but they were rather interested in the already stored tournaments. So far only the "Armor Cup" was available but in the manual it said that they could unlock a new one after beating the previous one. Which made Naofumi wonder, if the spaceship remembered which person had already finished which tournament, or if that was something that had been never used before, maybe even added by Zelretch himself.

Nevertheless, what got things really rolling was, when Ji-Han got a quest for it:

{**Quest Alert**

Optional Tournament: Armor Cup

You think you are strong? Time to test it!

Win the Armor Cup tournament of the training program of the FO Vimana.

Completion Award: EXP 35 000 shared equally over all party members.  
You gain the title [Combat Novice].

Completion Failure:  
No consequences.}

As they already had tried, defeating an enemy in the simulation did not give them any amount of EXP. However, this quest did. And not only would Ji-Han get some EXP, his party members would as well. That had been so far reserved for saving a world. Then he would also get a title, something he had yet to receive. Add into the fact that there was literally no penalty for failure and that they had nothing to do for over two more days? Why wouldn't they try to finish the Armor Cup?!

"Ready?" Ji-Han asked his comrades and, after their confirmation, activated the [Armor Cup].

In the middle of the room in a burst of data six figures, Soldier-Heartless appeared and above them letters appeared:

{Armor Cup  
Round 9}

"I would say the possibility of the last boss being the Guard Armor just increased", noted Naofumi and Ji-Han had to agree. It was called Armor Cup, after all. Still, it was definitively different fighting against Heartless than the laser-shooting spheres that were the standard enemy of the training room. Those little orbs had faster ranged attacks than any of the Heartless Ji-Han had met so far, flew and were smaller, making them more difficult to hit. But at last got "destroyed" with one strike. Which couldn't be said for the annoying Air Soldiers. But normal Soldiers? No problem!

The letters disappeared and they ran forward, meeting the charge of the Heartless with their own. Ji-Han was strong enough that he could take down a Soldier-Heartless with two consecutive hits and Shua needed either a bunch, if he used a normal Scratch or one, if he went all out and used his copy of Power Strike. The latter of course used up MP, so it wasn't advisable to use it in the first round of the tournament. But that was what Naofumi was for, taking the hits for them while they whittled down the enemy.

So they managed to take them down quickly enough. The second round, or {Round 8} if you went by the description, was even easier, as their enemies turned out to be 6 Bizarre Archers. Without any other type of Heartless to keep up the pressure, Ji-Han could just wait behind Naofumi until they shot their arrows and then run towards the most outwards one to defeat that one in a single strike. Meanwhile Naofumi would step in between him and the rest of the archers protecting him from the retaliation of them. Rinse and repeat and they methodically managed to take down all of them easily. When two of them were too close to each other to deal with like that, Ji-Han still had his partner Shua to take down the second Bizarre Archer.

{Round 7} was a lot more annoying. Understandable, considering it consisted of 6 Air Soldiers whose high VIT always made them a pain to deal with. And, to make matters worse, their ranged attacker Akari wasn't with them anymore. Luckily they had already gotten some experience in dealing with many Air Soldiers in their fight against the Guard Armor. Which consisted of getting near a wall so that they could only come from one direction and block their attacks, while the others attacked them when they were on the ground.

The "wall" in this case was Naofumi who turned his back towards Ji-Han and activated his dog-head shield to give them at last a bit of damage if they attacked him, while Shua placed himself behind Ji-Han's feet to attack the Air Soldiers that fell to the ground thanks to Ji-Han's [Guard].

With this formation they managed to defeat the Heartless without taking any damage themselves, but it was a long and tedious process. But on the bright side, his Blunt Weapon Mastery leveled during that.

For {Round 6} the creator had decided to throw all of them together, making it three Soldiers on the ground and three Bizarre Archers carried by three Air Soldiers. Naofumi's first reaction had been to use an [Air Strike Shield] to throw down one Air Soldier-Bizarre Archer-Combo and then, once Ji-Han and Shua had reached the grounded foes, use a [Shield Prison] to confine all four into the same space. It had been a bit tight but both Air Soldier and Bizarre Archer were really unsuited for these kind of situations and could not to much more than scratch them while they wailed on them. And thanks to their instincts that the creator of the training area had included, which told them to attack the person that was attacking them, the Heartless did not vanish only to reappear outside of the Shield Prison.

Unfortunately, the reverse wasn't true and even though they managed to deal with those two sure enough, suddenly a Soldier-Heartless appeared within their little space. And that guy was a lot better at close quarter combat, attacking the surprised Ji-Han with a swipe of his claws. {-9}

Ji-Han quickly retaliated with his Keyblade and took it down at the same time the Shield Prison vanished. Near them was already Naofumi who was defending their spot from the other two Soldiers. Which mean that Ji-Han quickly used [Dodge Roll] to the side as he expected the archers to attack their current position. Which they did.

Shua, being weighted down by his armor, did not manage to get out in time but it was that same armor that made the arrows rebound from his large head without doing any damage. He only needed to worry if they used the powered-up-versions. And Ji-Han wouldn't give them that time.

He jumped up, allowing him to reach one of the airborne Archers and eliminated it in one strike. Once back on the ground, he turned around and made a beeline for the other one, taking out all their ranged options. Shua meanwhile helped Naofumi deal with the Soldiers. Which was pretty easy thanks to the fact that they had gotten quite a lot of damage going against Naofumi's biting dog shield. From then on taking care of the two Air Soldiers was just routine at this point.

In the next round, things got really interesting. It looked like their enemies were two Air Soldiers and three Soldiers, if you ignored the fact that all Soldiers has a green bodysuit instead of a blue one, their claws were white instead of red and their helmets black instead of silver. And before Ji-Han could use Observe on them, the battle started and they began running incredibly fast. In any direction. They didn't even bother attacking them, they just ran around the room like they were panicking. Ji-Han would have liked to get a better look at them but he first had to deal with the Air Soldiers.

"What's their deal?" Naofumi exclaimed confused, cautiously waiting for an attack that never came.

"Wait until we've got rid of the Air Soldiers and I'll tell you", Ji-Han told the shield hero, trusting him to watch his back while he made good on his word.

"Okay, now that that's finished, [Observe]!"

{Deserter Imitation Lv15  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $58/58  
MP: $88/88  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: None, Fight  
Elemental Resistances: Ice (0.75), Wood (0.25)  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $20 VIT: $14 DEX: $54  
INT: $5 WIS: $5 LUK: $2}

Ah, right, he had forgotten that those were just imitations and so he wouldn't get any information on the Heartless itself. At last he could tell them the stats and elements.

"That are rather low stats for a Soldier-Variant I haven't seen or heard about", noted Naofumi. "They have probably some annoying feature. I suppose it is a good thing we met them in training first."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han. This was just training. Nothing bad would happen if he messed up. He could just attack without worry.

PING!

{[Keyblade Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Oh, good, that was always a welcome sight. Wait, since those guys didn't attack so far, wouldn't it made them perfect for grinding his two Mastery skills while doing other stuff? Things to try out later.

Ji-Han ran towards one of the Deserters and attacked it, only for it to run tail and run into the other direction, avoiding his attack in the process.

"Come back here!" Ji-Han shouted and gave chase but it was futile. The Heartless was just too fast and its movements too erratic for him to follow. Whenever Ji-Han thought he had it, it abruptly changed its direction to run somewhere else. And Shua had no luck either. All in all, it was a pretty ridiculous sight until Naofumi had enough and used [Air Strike Shield] to block the way of one of them. The Heartless, not expecting the sudden green shield of air, ran right into it like a figure out of a cartoon with all its limbs sprawled out over its surface.

"Thanks", Ji-Han told Naofumi and used this opportunity to get rid of the Heartless in a single stroke. Now change came onto the other two Deserters. They stopped running around aimlessly and went now straight towards Ji-Han, taking the Gamer by surprise.

"[Shield Prison]!"

Luckily Naofumi had already expected something to happen and so was not taken off-guard with their new behavior. He instantly confined Ji-Han within the sphere of shields, making the kicks of the Heartless rebound harmlessly off its surface.

"Thanks", exclaimed Ji-Han. "I guess now we know what their special feature is…"

"Watch out!" Naofumi suddenly interrupted him and right afterwards two orbs of darkness appeared within the confinement, revealing two Deserters.

The sudden invasion of his personal space made Ji-Han stab-happy which served him well in this situation, as it allowed him to instantly kill one of the two. The other was unfortunately on his back and thus, Ji-Han could not stop it from attacking him with a series of kicks that send him flying against the walls of the prison. {-11} {-11} {-10} {Critical!} {-57}

That was when the Shield Prison vanished and Ji-Han sprawled on the ground. The Deserter was still going after him, but now Shua appeared and attacked it with a Keyblade-imitation, instantly evaporating it.

"Thanks, Shua", Ji-Han addressed the Pokémon. If he hadn't had so much HP, this could have turned out to be a lot more dangerous…

{Armor Cup  
Round 4}

Wha-? Already?! At last let him stand up before… Oh, my god! What's with that double-sized Soldier in black with yellow claws and a metal helmet that has a golden tint to it?!

"[Observe]"!

{Sergeant Imitation Lv25  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $185/185  
MP: $300/300  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: Fight  
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.75), Fire (0.75)  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $25 VIT: $35 DEX: $25  
INT: $25 WIS: $25 LUK: $15}

Damn it, another Heartless with high VIT. And he had a Fight-resistance and was accompanied by four normal Soldiers.

"Naofumi, keep the big one occupied while we deal with the smaller ones", Ji-Han told the shield hero. "Shua, to me!"

He let the shield hero get in front of him to block the massive swipe-attack of the Sergeant while he and Shua moved backwards to have more room to fight. Two of the Soldiers went after them, while the other two joined their big cousin in attacking Naofumi. Which was pretty stupid of the Heartless, considering the shield hero's high defense but suited them just as well, letting them take down the first two Soldiers without any problem.

"Don't go after the others", Ji-Han stopped Shua from doing just that as he took out a pebble from his inventory. Getting near the last two Soldiers meant getting near Naofumi, which meant getting near the Sergeant, which was exactly what they wanted to avoid for now.

So he instead threw the pebble after the Soldiers, hoping to aggro them to him instead. Unfortunately, his Throwing Mastery was still level 1, which meant his aim wasn't the best and he hit Naofumi's head instead.

"Sorry", he apologized quickly as he took out another pebble, only for the Hero of the Shield to ask suspiciously "For what?"

"Ah… nothing", Ji-Han responded in a hurry, but then he realized that Naofumi wouldn't mind getting hit by stones he literally didn't notice as long as the guy who threw them had been aiming for the enemy. Like he had told Akari when she hesitated to fire arrows at enemies near him.

Ji-Han suppressed a wince as he thought about the girl and instead just told Naofumi why he had apologized.

"You really need to learn to aim", the Hero of the Shield reprimanded Ji-Han. "You don't have an unlimited amount of stones in your inventory, do you?"

Ji-Han agreed and threw the next pebble, again missing a Soldier because that guy had moved out of the way. Damn it! He only had twelve left! He knew that was a rather low number for something that could be found on the side of the road, but that was also the reason he had so few of them. He had had constantly higher priorities than picking up stones from the ground.

It took Ji-Han five more tries until he hit a Soldier and the Heartless was changing targets towards him. Within moments, that guy was also dead, leaving one Soldier but considering how Ji-Han had used up exactly half of his stones to get the other one to come to them, he didn't like his odds. He really didn't want to tell Naofumi to please draw the Sergeant away so that he could pick up the stones.

Luckily he didn't need to as he managed to hit the last Soldier with the third pebble. One small skirmish later and they could direct their attention to the big guy.

"25, 35, 25, a Fight-Element and resistant towards Fight and Fire", Ji-Han listed the important stats. "I know my Keyblade does not have an element but maybe Power Strike has Fight. And its high VIT might make normal attacks too weak."

"Try it out", Naofumi told Ji-Han and the Gamer followed his advice. He ran around the Sergeant and attacked it from behind. {$HP: 238/250} So, 12 damage. And now the Heartless turned around to attack him. But Ji-Han could not yet disengage. He wanted to try what happened when he used…

"[Power Strike]!"

{$HP: 229/250}

What the- the Power Strike did actually less damage than a normal attack?! It _had_ to be the resistance! Damn, that would make fighting against that thing a lot more difficult.

"[Air Strike Shield]", Naofumi activated, blocking the claws of the Sergeant that had been going after Ji-Han. Meanwhile Shua used his own version of the Power Strike with a "Smear", also doing 9 damage. And Ji-Han had no illusion that Shua's scratching attack would do more than scratch damage. He just didn't have the bonus from Ji-Han's Blunt Weapon Mastery.

So he hacked on the Heartless as fast as he could, mindful of the sharp claws, only for the Sergeant to suddenly kick him in the stomach. {-69}

Ji-Han didn't actually feel any impact, yet he was suddenly flung away as if the feet actually did have physical substance behind it. Right, didn't that happen with the Deserters earlier, too? Whoever designed this training room was a genius!

Ji-Han picked himself up and saw how Naofumi was protecting Shua from the retaliation of the Heartless who was down to nearly half HP.

"Huh", mused Naofumi as the kick hit his stomach. "That actually took one HP. It's been a while since that happened."

"Smeargle", exclaimed Shua impressed and Ji-Han had to agree. An attack that sent him flying yet was nothing more than a curiosity when it hit Naofumi dead-center? His VIT really was impressive.

Ji-Han ran back into the fight and attacked the Sergeant. This time he did so with small stabs followed by instant retreat, mindful of the powerful kick.

"Don't use up all of your MP", Naofumi suddenly reprimanded Shua. "You have to keep some in reserve for a Guard Armor!"

Ji-Han realized that she shield hero was right. They only really managed to deal with the Guard Armor in Traverse Town because of Power Strike. Which probably meant that those Heartless had a Fight-weakness now that he thought about it. Still, that meant that Shua shouldn't waste up all of his MP when fighting against this guy, especially since Ji-Han had used up most of his MP for Night Eye before the start of the simulation. Maybe not the best idea in hindsight but that was why they were training.

More importantly, however, was that Naofumi's chastising distracted Shua from attacking and allowed the Sergeant to get in one attack of his own. An attack, which not only threw the Pokémon back, but also did whooping 141 simulated damage. The heck?

"[Observe]!"

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv5 (75.57%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 2  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 600/600  
SP: 459/600  
MP: 90/150  
STR: 17 VIT: 9 (+30) DEX: 19  
INT: 8 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

So he was right. Thanks to the Guard Armor Shua now had higher VIT than him, which should have made the attack do less damage. Instead he suddenly got more?! What, did he had a Fight-weakness, too?!

…he did, didn't he? Shua was a Pokémon, the franchise that made the "super-effective" memes.

"Shua, do you have a Fight-weakness?" Ji-Han asked the Smeargle who responded in affirmation with a sad "Smear."

"And do you have any other weaknesses?"

This time Shua shook his head. Good, at last he had only one weakness, if one that was rather common.

"Prioritize protection Shua over protecting me", Ji-Han told Naofumi. "At last when we're up against enemies like that."

"Sure", replied Naofumi as he once again blocked the swipe of the Sergeant and gave Ji-Han the opportunity to attack, before retreating back behind the body of the shield hero. Now that Shua wasn't using his Power Strike anymore, the damage would be too insignificant to get the Sergeants attention. Meaning they couldn't just attack from both sides while the back was turned towards them.

Instead, Ji-Han had to carefully strike from behind Naofumi's guard. Which wasn't easy as the Heartless was still fixated on Ji-Han who had done the most damage to it and the shield hero was in its eyes nothing more than an obstacle. An obstacle that had the annoying habit of moving in-between itself and its target. So when it attacked Naofumi, it was more like trying to get rid of a tree in the way. And it didn't do so by ramming Naofumi, but by kicking and swiping with its claws.

Which made it difficult for Ji-Han to actually hit any of its body parts while he was hiding behind Naofumi. But difficult wasn't impossible. It just meant that it took longer. He still wished he had a longer weapon, though.

Nevertheless, after enough time passed, they had finally managed to whittle down its HP to 0. Which was when Ji-Han remembered that they still had three more rounds to go as a {Round 3} appeared in the air above them. And the enemies in that round? Seven Deserter. Seriously, _seven_ of them! Whoever designed this tournament was a sadist.

"Any idea on how we can take out the Deserters without having the one to kill one getting swarmed by them?" Ji-Han asked the shield hero while the Deserter ran around them like headless chickens.

"Not really", admitted Naofumi. "As Shield Prison doesn't work, there is no way to stop them from reaching their target. If I could just kill one of them, the rest would automatically die from my counters. But unless I have already killed one, they won't come at me and my STR is too small for that. Just go and get ready to defend against the rest of them. I'll use Air Strike Shield to make a wall at your back… wait. I want to know if they change targets if a second one dies to another person. Can you, after killing the first one, just guard while Shua attacks them from behind?"

"Smeargle?"

"They are using kicks", mused Ji-Han. "If I use Guard, I might not just be able to protect myself, but also make them fall down. But what about Shua? If they really change targets after the second death, wouldn't that be too dangerous for him? They are using Fight, after all."

"That's why we are doing it now in training", Naofumi reminded him. "But do get ready in case Shua gets attacked. If the attacks are too much, no matter, we'll just have to try something different the next time. But there is no reason for us not to try to get through this on our first try."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han. "Shua, are you ready?"

"S…Smear!"

"Alright. Here we go!"

Ji-Han ran after a Deserter, trying to corner him. He couldn't depend on the Air Strike Shield this time, as they needed that one to protect him afterwards. So he had to do without. He had to anticipate, which way the Deserter might ran to and move in the way, slowing pushing the Heartless towards the wall. And all that with their high DEX. On his own, Ji-Han was sure he would not have made it. But luckily he had teammates and even Naofumi, who couldn't use his Air Strike Shield, was still able to direct the Heartless as a second obstacle just with his body. Even better than the little Shua.

After a minute or so, they finally managed to corner their target. Ji-Han noticed that they were already near a wall and Naofumi agreed with his observation that they wouldn't need the Air Strike Shield in this case, at last not right off the bat. So, in one lunge, Ji-Han jumped forwards, impaling the first Deserter and quickly turned around to welcome the six other ones.

"[Guard]!" shouted Ji-Han, nearly missing the timing because they were just so fast. But he managed it in time and made the first one fly on his back. But now the others were upon him. And they did not attack the same place.

Ji-Han was completely overwhelmed. No matter how many times he moved his Keyblade into the way of one attack, another came and hit him from a different direction. Even with Naofumi summoning an Air Strike Shield at his side, they still managed to make their hits land.

{-10} {-10} {-11}

{By using [Guard] without using the skill,  
[Guard]'s level has risen by 1.}

But on the bright side, if he actually managed to get his Keyblade in the way of the attack, it counted as using [Guard] without using the skill in combat, making it level up like crazy.

{-10} {-11} {-12} {-11}

{By using [Guard] without using the skill,  
[Guard]'s level has risen by 1.}

{-12} {-11} {-12}

Even if it would have been better for his HP if he attacked them instead of defending.

{By using [Guard] without using the skill,  
[Guard]'s level has risen by 1.}

{-11} {-11}

{By using [Guard] without using the skill,  
[Guard]'s level has risen by 1.}

That was when suddenly all the Deserters ignored him and instead went after Shua, who had finally managed to take one of them down. Unfortunately, Ji-Han had been so preoccupied with defense, he missed the timing and now Shua was being bombarded with attacks by the five Heartless. Naofumi quickly got into the way but only managed to stall one of them, the others skipping around and over the Hero of the Shield to get to the Smeargle. And even the one that got bitten by the dog shield, did not continue to attack Naofumi and instead went around him after the first block.

As soon as Ji-Han realized what was happening, he hurried forwards, past the Hero of the Shield and at the horde of Heartless. With one swing he took down two of them at once, making the last three go after him again. And, proving that in this case attacking was better than defending, managed to bring down the rest with only getting hit once. {-11}

"Are you alright, Shua?" Ji-Han asked the Pokémon who gave him a reaffirming "Smear", only to suddenly fall into a panic.

"Smeargle, gle, gle, smeargle! Gle! Gle! Gle!"

"Shua?!" Shouted Ji-Han, now also panicking. "What's wrong?!" Why wasn't he moving?!

{Armor Cup  
Round 2}

"Not now!" Ji-Han shouted at the message angrily. They had something more important to do right now!

"[Pause]." Naofumi called out, making all the Heartless stop in their tracks.

"Ah, thanks Naofumi-Hyung", Ji-Han told the Hero of the Shield before turning back to Shua. "[Observe]!"

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv5 (75.57%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 2  
Status: $Tired

HP: 600/600  
SP: 222/600  
MP: 90/150  
STR: 17 VIT: 9 (+30) DEX: 19  
INT: 8 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

There was only one thing that was different.

"His status is {Tired}", he read. "A simulated version. Does that mean the Heartless inflicted a status on him with that attack?"

"Maybe", conceded Naofumi, "but if it is just simulated, everything should be fine right now while we are pausing."

"Smeargle?!" Shua voiced surprised and stood up. Seeing as he could move again, Shua ran around, making happy Smeargle noises.

"So they simulated tiredness, but with Shua not actually being effected, it looked to him like his body wasn't listening to him anymore", Ji-Han reasoned.

"So, no reason to be scared", Naofumi told the Pokémon. "It's just a simulation. If it's too much for you, we can stop. But since real Heartless will not let us leave if we ask nicely, I suggest we should still try to win this. Even if we have to repeat it to finish the quest because we paused the tournament, we would still get some combat experience."

Ji-Han looked over the enemies of the current round: One Sergeant Lv25, two Deserter Lv20 and then one of the three standard types, Soldier, Air Soldier and Bizarre Archer Lv12. With Shua out of commission, it really seemed like that would be quite tough to win. But Naofumi was right. There was no reason for them not to try to win this. If they only wanted to win as fast as possible, that would have been different. But while the tournament was a quest, it was also training.

"Shua, are you still able to go on?" Ji-Han asked the Smeargle. "Even if you can't move for at last a time?"

"Smeargle… Smear!" Shua was at first hesitating, but soon accepted. He probably didn't want to be the one to hold them back.

"Alright", acknowledged Naofumi. "[Unpause]." And with that the Heartless rushed into motion while Shua fell onto the ground and the Hero of the Shield ran over to him to shield him from the attacks. The Deserters did their thing, the Air Soldier picked up the Bizarre Archer and the Sergeant and Soldier were engaging Ji-Han.

The Gamer made a point to ignore the big one for now and ran past him, towards the slower Soldier. Ji-Han hit it twice before it could react, but for some reason that wasn't enough and he was forced to escape with a [Dodge Roll] less he got hit with an arrow shrouded in black fog, shot towards him by the Bizarre Archer. And he had to continue to run away, because now the Sergeant was gunning for him. The Sergeant with a DEX of 25. 9 higher than his current DEX.

Ji-Han spun around and used [Guard] to block the claws of the Sergeant who had already gained on him. Then he quickly stepped back to dislodge his weapon and hit the Heartless with a three normal attacks in a row. Only three and not more, because he didn't trust any of the Heartless not do try something. So, after the triple attack, he quickly used [Dodge Roll] to get away. Which turned out to be the right decision as the Sergeant countered with his massive kick at the same time that the Soldier had reached them.

Which made Ji-Han witness to the first case of friendly-fire that he had seen with the Heartless as the kick of the Sergeant obliterated the Soldier.

"[Shield Prison]!"

But before Ji-Han could bask in that little victory, Naofumi's voice ripped him out of his thoughts.

The Hero of the Shield had captured the Air Soldier and Bizarre Archer-combo, right as they fired another arrow. After all, while the Heartless showed time and time again that they could teleport out of it, they still had to realize that they were captured in the first place. And that took a moment. A moment, which Ji-Han could use completely devoted to the Sergeant.

Three attacks and then using [Dodge Roll] to evade its kick seemed to be the best way to deal with them, especially if there were no other enemies he had to be careful of.

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

Like the Air Soldier who Naofumi had swatted out of the air as soon as he reappeared. Though the Bizarre Archer still seemed to be inside the Shield Prison as it hadn't shown up with the other one.

Nevertheless, while Ji-Han would have liked to run over to the grounded Air Soldier, he couldn't really show his back to the Sergeant.

"Smear!"

Fortunately for him, the status effect on Shua had worn off and the Pokémon was ready to jump on top of the Air Soldier and use claw-attacks in rapid-fire. The Heartless tried to retaliate, but its attacks couldn't do anything against Shua's armor.

And when the Bizarre Archer appeared, too, Naofumi, who had observed the battlefield closely just so that it wouldn't be able to shot one of his team mates in the back while they were otherwise preoccupied, activated his centipede shield's ability:

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!"

Now, with his DEX multiplied by 5, he surged forward, in-between the Bizarre Archer and its target: Shua.

The arrow of blackened energy bounced off harmlessly of Naofumi's body as if it was made out of Styrofoam and the Hero of the Shield changed directions, now running directly at the archer, even if at normal speed.

He did so just like Shua, who had already finished the Air Soldier with a {Critical!}. The Heartless tried to stop them but its arrows were just too weak and so it was soon finished, too. That left the Sergeant, who Ji-Han dealt with in a pattern, as well as the two Deserters. There were only two of them, but they were stronger than the other ones. Still, what made them really dangerous was their ability to dogpile their enemies, something that wouldn't happen with just two of them. So, the Hero of the Shield waited patiently for Ji-Han to defeat the Sergeant.

"Since they only attack once one of them has been defeated, you in practice only need to fight against one of them", Naofumi explained after Ji-Han had finally finished the oversized Soldier. "After you took care of the first, I'll stall the second with a Shield Prison which should give you the opportunity to easily guard against its attack."

Ji-Han nodded.

"Right, let's do this!"

Their plan went off without a hitch. In fact, the only real difficult part was once again actually cornering the Deserter. Something, that was even more tedious than usual because the Deserter was able to survive one of Ji-Han's attacks. Which meant they had to do it twice. But after that blocking the one attack and killing the second Deserter while it was down was easy. Which lead them to…

{Armor Cup  
Round 1}

{Guard Armor Imitation Lv30  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $830/830  
MP: $450/450  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: Fight, Sound, None  
Elemental Resistances: Water (0.5), Void (0.5)  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $35 VIT: $60 DEX: $35  
INT: $15 WIS: $20 LUK: $13}

"60 VIT", read Ji-Han out loud astonished. That bastard had way too much defense. And over 800 HP? This was going to suck.

"Here we go!"

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Activated Naofumi to block a double-punch of the right gauntlet. Meanwhile Ji-Han went past the shield and slashed at the limb with a "[Power strike]".

Ji-Han looked at the health points of the gauntlet and his eyes widened in surprise.

{HP: $103/112}

9 Damage?! His most powerful attack that was of an element that the Guard Armor was weak against, dealt a total of 9 Damage?! If they didn't get any critical hits, they would have to hit him nearly a hundred times?!

"[Pause]!" Naofumi spoke, freezing the Guard Armor in its tracks.

"You are stopping?" Ji-Han asked surprised and the Hero of the Shield nodded.

"We already have defeat the Guard Armor once", he explained. "There is no reason for us to try and defeat it through paper cuts when we will have to fight it once more regardless."

Right. The only reason why they had gone through the last round was because of the combat-experience. Since they had already duked it out once with a Guard Armor, the experience there would be low. And he, too, preferred to get that one without having to attack hundreds of times.

"Right", he agreed with Naofumi out loud. "Let's break it off here and come back after I've grinded a bit."

"[Cancel]", the Hero of the Shield spoke and the Guard Armor vanished.

"In exchange", he continued. "I would like to see if we can't do better against seven Deserters."

"Me, too", agreed Ji-Han. "Last time only offense worked pretty well after they had attacked Shua and I want to see if that works with all seven, too!"

"Sure", Naofumi exclaimed and, after tipping some moments on a holographic interface, a group of seven Deserters appeared, as well as some letter:

{Mode: Combat}

The letters vanished and the Deserters started moving.

"[Shield Prison]", Naofumi activated, capturing one of the Deserters near a wall. "Note if and how long it takes until the Deserter escapes…" But even while he was saying that, the Deserter reappeared next to the Shield Prison and joined its brethren in running around like a headless chicken.

"Looks like we'll have to do it the hard way", he concluded and began moving to herd another Deserter against the wall. For now Naofumi had decided to put the Deserters at Lv15, just like Round 3 of the tournament. Which meant that once they actually managed to corner it, one of Ji-Han's attacks was enough to take it down. Then he turned around to face the oncoming frenzy, ready to strike.

After all the Deserters were defeated, he had been hit three times, a far cry from the dozen ones before.

"Attacking really does seem like the better solution compared to defending", Ji-Han mused. "Even if it is a good way to grind Guard."

"Good", declared Naofumi. "Now try to fight against them without a wall on your back."

"Wha- why?!" Ji-Han exclaimed surprised, to which Naofumi instantly responded with:

"Because cornering one of them takes forever. If possible, I want us to be able to defeat them faster."

"It does take way too long", Ji-Han agreed and Naofumi activated another training program. "You are going to help this time?"

"You wouldn't be able to get one away from a wall without my help in the first place", he explained. "I might as well go all the way."

"Right", Ji-Han acknowledged and went after a random Deserter.

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

Slamming against the transparent wall, the Heartless was easy pray for Ji-Han's Keyblade. Now the others ran towards and Ji-Han welcomed them, destroying the first one with a swipe of his weapon.

"[Guard]!"

He then quickly brought his Keyblade up into a defensive position, blocking a second one and sending him sprawling on the ground. He ignored that one for now though and instead eliminated a third one, coming closer to him.

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!"

Meanwhile Naofumi rushed over to him, "ramming" into the first Deserter on his way, which happened to be near Ji-Han's back. And while Naofumi's STR was pitiful, the charge still managed to send it flying, even if not outright dealing damage. But considering how Ji-Han was able to take down one with one hit and his biggest problem right now were the enemies coming to him all at once, sending the Heartless flying was a lot more helpful than any small damage. Additionally, the Hero of the Shield was pretty good at stopping attacks. And once he realized that the Heartless would not switch their attention no matter how often he got in their way, he just had to make sure to get in their way every single time. He was kind of like a replacement-wall in a sense.

And then Shua reached them and with a [Power Strike] eliminated another Deserter. Which made the rest of them now focus on him. But since Ji-Han was already attacking the one he had previously downed, it was more like a short distraction that allowed him to strike true without problem, switching the Heartless' attention back to him.

But since there were only two left, that was really no competition and they joined their brethren soon. All in all, a quite successful fight with not one hit on any of their party members.

"Now that's more like it", declared Ji-Han satisfied and Naofumi nodded.

"Now that we know how to deal with every round of the tournament, the Guard Armor is all that is left", he exclaimed.

"I'll get to it", promised Ji-Han as he took out his weights. "What are you going to do?"

"I think it is time to check how Shua's Math is coming along", he decided. "You can use that time to grind your Weapon Mastery besides your STR."

"Yes!"

"Okay, Shua, let's go."

* * *

{You have completed the quest  
[Optional Tournament: Armor Cup].  
Completion Award: +11 666 EXP to you, Shua and Naofumi.  
The title [Combat Novice].}

Hell, yeah! They had finally done it. Of course, there really was no question that they could, as he had already tried out to fight a Guard Armor outside of the tournament and his STR of 24 had been able to make each Power Strike deal a blow of around 75 HP-Damage to it. Without a Critical Hit.

The problem was more, what he had to do to get that STR: Grinding. And what he had done on grinding the last day… Not just his STR but a bit of everything, really. He had ran around with weights to increase his STR and VIT and at some points his Mastery skills, studied to increase his INT, let himself be attacked to increase his Guard-skill, threw stones at Naofumi to increase his throwing skill – though he had decided to forgo Power Throw after his first stone exploded, cooked a lot resulting in adding [Oumukade Rolled Egg Omelet Version 1] – hey, Shua liked it and it restored 15 HP – and [Buttered Toast] – apparently its Rank was {Inferior} which resulted in a failure rate of literally 0% – to his recipe list. On a completely unrelated note, he had currently 194 Buttered Toast in his inventory.

Lastly on his list of grinding was Night Eye. Naofumi had advised him to level up Night Eye because he would need it if they got to a dark place. Power Strike might be good for damaging enemies but if he couldn't hit the enemies, because he couldn't see them; that would be instant game over. He still knew that with his current level, it was still too short to be useful, but that was why he was investing all of his MP into activating Night Eye, leveling it up in the process. Luckily he got another skill to help with that: Meditation.

{[Meditation (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
A technique to focus the mind and achieve mental clarity and calm.  
Since ancient times have human tried to find enlightenment through concentration.  
Restores 0.05 MP per level plus 1 for every finished minute.  
Interruption from the outside inflicts the status "Confusion" on the user.}

He had gotten the skill Mediation when Keyblade Mastery had reached level 28. And while it had gone a lot further thanks to his constant grinding, being now at level 31 and promising him yet another skill if he leveled it up once more, he still was rather grateful for that skill. It was, after all, a skill that allowed him to regenerate MP faster. And with his desire to level up Night Eye, that was like a godsend. Currently, with both his level and the level of the skill at 9, it regenerated an effective 5 MP per every minute he just sat still and meditated. That was twice as much as his current MP-regeneration!

Unfortunately, that was also its biggest weakness. He had to sit still and do nothing else for a complete minute for it to work. It was no wonder he had done so many different things. Because doing the same thing over and over and over again for hours? Freaking boring. In fact, Keyblade Mastery at level 31 and Blunt Weapon Mastery at 38 was the result of his boredom for grinding being so great that he joined Naofumi in his training fights. Maybe it was actually a blessing in disguise that his STR refused to level through training after it had reached 24. It had resulted in hours of running with only an additional point in VIT to show for it, but at last he had not been feeling guilty for not continuing to increase his STR while Shua was doing just that.

Speaking of the Pokémon, he had it even worse. Shua's stats not only leveled visibly slower than his, it also seemed that the STR he could get through training was maxed out at 20, Ji-Han's STR before they decided to have him increase it for the Guard Armor. To say that Shua was a bit disgruntled, was putting it lightly.

Though, as Naofumi had pointed out, it could just have been that their weights were not sufficient anymore. Unfortunately, Shua was already wearing full-body armor and he himself had strapped as much weights to himself as possible. So even if they were able to train STR more, they would probably need something like dumbbells for that. They probably wouldn't be able to grind it together with VIT through running anymore. Such a pity.

But that was not the only thing where his ability decided to throw a wench into his grinding plans. Remember how he had once leveled up Guard like crazy because he had been {using [Guard] without using the skill}? Not working anymore. Not that he didn't know why. Previously guarding against an attack had just been putting his Keyblade into the middle of the enemies attack at the right moment. So if he let himself be bombarded by attacks from like Deserters, for every three times he failed, there would have been one were he managed to do it.

However, from level 20 onward, the Guard-skill came with a bluish transparent shield appearing in front of the Keyblade and extending past its edges. So, since he couldn't replicate this shield just by moving his Keyblade, he didn't have the fast-leveling anymore. And as if to add insult to injury, the shield was just so freaking small, barely extending past the Keyblade. Of course he knew that with enough grinding, he would most likely be able to extend the shield from three degrees horizontal and vertical to 360 degrees horizontal and vertical, giving him a complete 360-degree barrier. But now that he lost his fast-level, that one would take a lot of time.

"Wait!" Naofumi suddenly shouted, ripping Ji-Han out of his daydreaming.

But it wasn't the Gamer that the Hero of the Shield was looking at. It was Shua, who was now frozen in place, his finger close to a semi-transparent brown panel in the air in front of him.

"Did you level up?" Naofumi interrogated the Smeargle who responded with an affirmative "Smear."

"And were you going to put your new points into STR?"

"Smear!"

"As I thought… listen, your MP-regeneration right now is literally 0. No matter how strong your attacks are, if you can only use them a limited amount of time, that makes you useless."

"That's unnecessary", interrupted Ji-Han. "While I do agree, he should get some MP-regeneration, calling him useless is completely unnecessary.

"…maybe", admitted Naofumi after some thought. "But it does get the point across. Don't use up all your points without thinking!"

"…smear. Smeargle. Gle."

"Let's see… [Observe]!" Ji-Han took a look at Shua's stats to decide to see what would be the best use for his points.

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv6 (46.96%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 2  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 700/700  
SP: 700/700  
MP: 45/200  
STR: 20 VIT: 15 (+30) DEX: 21  
INT: 10 WIS: 4 LUK: 5}

"He's got 4 WIS, so if he uses one point for WIS, he would get an MP-regeneration of 1 per minute", Ji-Han mused. "He can't get to 10 WIS with just 5 points so maybe he should use the rest for something else? What about LUK? It should increase the possibility of a CRIT with his Power Strike."

"Smear, smear, smeargle, smear!" Shua chattered enthusiastically, liking the idea.

"It's not a stupid decision, so do that if you want", Naofumi told the Pokémon who did just that.

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv6 (46.96%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 2  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 700/700  
SP: 700/700  
MP: 45/175  
STR: 20 VIT: 15 (+30) DEX: 21  
INT: 10 WIS: 5 LUK: 9}

"But speaking of the Power Strike", the Hero of the Shield continued, "can you now copy another ability?"

"Smear!"

Oh, that's right, he can copy attacks after a level up! Now, which one would be best?

"Air Strike Shield!" Ji-Han suggested instantly.

"And here I thought you would suggest Meditation", Naofumi commented and Ji-Han chuckled.

"It would help a lot with Shua's MP-regeneration", he conceded. "But it's completely useless for combat. And Shua can't level it up on his own. So maybe once I've got it to the point where using it once regenerates enough MP for at last one Power Strike. But not right now. That said, Air Strike Shield doesn't even use up MP, allowing Shua to keep that for his Power Strikes. And, to be honest, it's better than any skill I have."

"That is true", conceded Naofumi. "But what you don't know is, that the durability of the shield depends on the level of the user."

"Seriously?" Ji-Han exclaimed surprised. "I thought it was unbreakable."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it isn't. The same with Shield Prison. If you don't want to give him Meditation, it would be better to look for a good enemy attack."

"Oh, like the Body Smash of the Guard Armor?" Ji-Han suggested enthusiastically but Naofumi shook his head.

"Those attacks just deal simulated damage", he reminded the Gamer. "They are useless outside the training room."

Oh, right.

"Okay, Shua, do you mind waiting before copying the next attack?"

"Smear!"

"Thanks. That said, any idea on what do to now?"

With the completion of the Armor Cup, they had finished their current goal, yet there were still over 24 hours left, until they reached their destination. And he didn't want to go back to meditating.

"First you should check out your title", reminded Naofumi. "And than we should see if the next tournament has been unlooked. Even if we most likely won't be able to finish it in time, it should give us good experience."

Ji-Han nodded.

"That makes sense. Tiles. Huh, didn't work. [Status Window]."

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv9  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 500/500  
SP: 500/500  
MP: 35/250

STR: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 22 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 16 ← (+0) →  
INT: 17 (19-2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 25 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 13 ← (+0) →

Points: 12  
Munny: 390 517}

He tipped on the title and in front of him opened a brown panel, similar to the inventory and skill ones, only that there was only one field filled. It had a white background and a cup, which resembled the Guard Armor. Tipping on the icon opened a blue panel:

{[Combat Novice]  
Obtained by winning the Armor Cup.-  
You have proven your worth in the Armor Cup  
of the training simulation of the FO Vimana.  
All status plus 2.}

Then another blue panel opened up below that.

{Do you want to equip the title [Combat Novice]?}

Without hesitation Ji-Han pressed {YES}. There were no negative effects to be had from this title and he didn't have any other one, so why would he hesitate?

"So", Naofumi spoke up. "What does it do?"

"Oh, eh, just increasing my stats by 2. I guess the other tournaments are going to give an upgraded version."

"That would make sense… [Training Program]." Naofumi opened the menu of the training room. "Looks like the second tournament has been unlocked. It is the 'Music Cup'."

"Really?" Ji-Han mused. "I wonder what kind of enemies that one has. Let's try it out!"

{**Quest Alert**

Optional Tournament: Music Cup

You think you are strong? Time to test it!

Win the Music Cup tournament of the training program of the FO Vimana.

Completion Award: EXP 50 000 shared equally over all party members.  
You gain the title [Combat Apprentice].

Completion Failure:  
No consequences.}

Without hesitation Ji-Han accepted the quest while Naofumi activated the tournament.

{Music Cup  
Round 15}

Huh, so it had 15 rounds. And the enemies… there were six of them, levitating in the air looking like some kind of wizards. Like one of the black magicians from the Final Fantasy Series. They had the same black sphere with yellow orbs as head like the other Heartless but they wearing something resembling a red coat with an extremely high color that had a zigzagging brim. It had no arms or even holes in the coat for the arms, making it look more like a geometrical object with the black and red Heartless-emblem over the kick of the neck than a real coat. Only the bottom was also open, revealing two thin feet like those of a bird. And to top of their magician-look, they had a yellow pointy head, though the point in question was curved in an angular spiral.

"[Observe]!"

{Red Nocturne Imitation Lv20  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $80/80  
MP: $180/180  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: Fire  
Elemental Resistances: Fire (-1), Lightning (0.5)  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $34 VIT: $25 DEX: $35  
INT: $29 WIS: $39 LUK: $20}

"It uses Fire", Ji-Han told his comrades. "It has over 30 STR, DEX and WIS and over 20 VIT and 29. And for some reason it has a negative resistance against Fire."

Suddenly orbs of flames appeared on top of the tips of their yellow hats.

"Get back!" Naofumi declared and ran to the front, readying his shield as the Heartless shot the orbs of fire towards them. But even fire was no match against Naofumi's shield and they dispersed harmlessly on its surface.

"Flying magic user", mused Ji-Han. "If that's what the tournament's about, we might be in real trouble."

"Better here than on the field", Naofumi reminded him. "Now, get ready! [Air Strike Shield]!"

Naofumi summoned the Air Strike Shield in the air above them and let it fly around, smashing two of the Heartless out of the air. Ji-Han and Shua used that moment to run from behind the shield hero towards them.

"[Power Strike]", Ji-Han activated and instantly killed the first, while Shua used his own version to take care of the second one.

"[Shield Prison]" Activated Naofumi, not to capture a Heartless, but to protect Ji-Han and Shua as the Red Nocturnes attacked, two with more fireballs, the other two shrouding themselves in flames and rushing towards the place where the two were bunkered down. Then the Shield Prison vanished and they ran towards the nearest Heartless.

Shua, the first to arrive, jumped into the air, but failed to reach it. Maybe it was because of his small statue or maybe because of the heavy armor, regardless, his Power Strike failed, passing just underneath the Red Nocturne.

Ji-Han on the other hand, actually managed to reach it by jumping and hit it. Unfortunately one normal hit wasn't enough, even if it managed to knock down its HP to {17/80}. But unlike the Soldiers, with flying enemies he couldn't just kill them on a return-swing… or could he? Blunt Weapon Mastery did not just increase the damage, it also increased the speed at which he attacked. So, if he actually tried to get as many hits in mid-air as possible, could he manage a second one?

It's a pity he couldn't try that out at the moment but he was currently distracted by the fireball coming from another Heartless.

"[Guard]!" He activated, blocking the attack. That left him wide open to a flaming charge from another one, but luckily Naofumi had already caught up to them and was using his shield to block the incoming Heartless.

"Smear!" Shouted the Pokémon as he came out from behind Naofumi and attacked the stopped Heartless with a series of scratch-attacks. Meanwhile Ji-Han was rushing in the other direction, his sights set on the Heartless who had just attacked him. He jumped into the air, hit it once on from the left to the right and then as fast as possible from the right to the left. And it worked! Both hits landed on the Red Nocturne, dealing together enough damage to disperse it.

"Yes", shouted Ji-Han in triumph, until another Heartless rammed into him {-48} and his body was magically dragged to the side, rolling over the ground.

Damn these guys hit hard. That was nearly a tenth of his current HP.

Ji-Han stood up quickly and took a look around just as fast. Rightfully so, as there was another Red Nocturne firing a ball of fire at him right at this moment.

"[Dodge Roll]!" Ji-Han avoided the attack and ran forward, jumped into the air and slashed with his Keyblade. To his surprise, the first attack was the one to miss while the second hit true. It seemed he had actually been too fast for the first attack to land.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi activated, blocking a fireball from behind.

"Thanks", Ji-Han shouted back quickly as he jumped back upwards to finish the job, only for another Red Nocturne to charge at them.

Ji-Han [Guard]ed in mid-air, blocking the charge but missing his opportunity to attack and landed on the ground again without dealing any damage. But as soon as his feet touched the ground, he jumped up again, this time attacking the Heartless who had charged him and eliminating it with one strike.

That left just two of them, both with {HP: 17/80}. The first got eliminated by Ji-Han before it could do anything, while the second one got hit by two of Shua's scratches, after missing with its charge. And yet it still hung on with {HP: 3/80}. But luckily Ji-Han was there to change that.

Alright, first round done. And while these guys packed a punch, that was only as long as they got hit. As long as they managed to avoid or block the attacks, everything was fine.

{Music Cup  
Round 14}

Now as for the enemies of the second round… Ji-Han had thought that the Red Nocturnes had been looking like the Black Magicians from Final Fantasy but these six Heartless looked even more like them, with their blue color scheme opposite to the red ones.

"[Observe]!"

{Blue Rhapsody Imitation Lv20  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $80/80  
MP: $180/180  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: None, Ice  
Elemental Resistances: Ice (-1), Lightning (0.5)  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $30 VIT: $20 DEX: $32  
INT: $34 WIS: $44 LUK: $22}

{[Observe]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Great… even if there didn't seem to be any changes in the information?

"Ice or Water?" Naofumi suddenly inquired and Ji-Han hurried up to answer.

"Ice. They also have higher magic and less physical stats than the fire ones."

"Good", noted Naofumi as he blocked the crystals of ice that the Blue Rhapsodies had shot at them.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Just like last time the Hero of the Shield used his transparent shield to swat two of them out of the sky and his party members hurried up to take on the downed enemies. But unlike last time there did so without the Power Strike, wanting to conserve MP.

Ji-Han still managed to take it down in one strike because he got a {Critical!} and Shua got it on the second try. As in, he got a {Critical!} that got the enemy to 0 HP.

"[Shield Prison]!" And now Naofumi once again captured his party members to protect them from the retaliating elemental attacks. Then the sphere of shields vanished and the inhabitants moved away, Ji-Han towards another Blue Rhapsody, Shua towards Naofumi, as the Pokémon still remembered the results of it trying to reach the airborne Heartless the last time.

But Ji-Han was ready and with a two-hit combo, brought down the number of remaining Heartless to half of the original amount.

But suddenly the two Rhapsodies next to him, spun around, their hats flying off of their heads and striking him like a whip while he was still in mid-air. {-25} {-25} And because the attacks had hit him not at exactly the same time, but the one on the right being just a bit slower than the one on the left, he was sent flying away from the latter one, directly below the one on the left.

{A party member has been afflicted with [$Frozen 20].}

Huh? What?!

Ji-Han quickly looked around and noticed a block of ice with Shua next to it. A person-sized block of ice with Naofumi inside of it.

"Naofumi-Hyung?!" Ji-Han shouted in panic, but the Hero of the Shield spoke up over the voice chat:

"I'm okay. I just can't move anything except my mouth and eyes. And I can still breathe. And I get 20 damage every second. Watch out for those ice beams. They ignore defenses."

A status effect. That was the first time Ji-Han had seen the Heartless use status effects. This was definitively an increase in difficulty compared to the previous tournament.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ji-Han saw something glowing and he instantly used [Dodge Roll] to avoid the attack, a beam of ice that froze the ground where it landed. He saw the aggressor, but hesitated to go after it.

"Shua, you'll be okay on your own?" He asked the Smeargle, who responded with an affirmative "Smear!"

"Try to fight in front of me!" Naofumi called out over the voice chat. "I can't move around, but I can still summon my shields!"

Oh, he was right. Even frozen he was still able to fight.

Ji-Han ran forward – and promptly slipped on the frozen floor he had forgotten about. His head landed on the ground and a message informed him of {-15}. Yet it didn't hurt and he was feeling fine. Was that because of the training room? Or because of his Gamer's Body?

Nevertheless, while the fall did not do anything too bad to him, it made him miss how a Blue Rhapsody shot an ice crystal at him until it shattered directly in his face. {-28}

Ji-Han picked himself up as fast as he could, using his Keyblade as a means to "break" through the simulated layer of ice and push himself up, his feet now outside the iced area. The he jumped upwards, over the whipping hat of another Heartless. Which he ignored once he landed, instead of running forward, towards Naofumi's field of vision. There he saw an Air Strike Shield getting frozen in mid-air because it blocked a beam of ice that had been going for Shua. Though the shield did not stay there and once it vanished, the surrounding block of ice lost its hold in mid-air and crashed onto the ground, shattering into million pieces, a part of them hitting the Pokémon near them.

"Shua!" Shouted Ji-Han but a quick [Observe] told him that he had gotten no damage. The armor had protected him.

Suddenly there was another crashing sound and Ji-Han spun around to find out what was going on. To his surprise it was only Naofumi, or rather the icy prison around him that shattered. Unfortunately with first Shua and then Naofumi, he had gotten distracted enough that an ice beam hit him from behind and he was instantly finding himself surrounded by a prison of crystals, unable to move.

{You have been afflicted with [$Frozen 20].}

{-20}

Ji-Han needed a moment to register what just happened, but only a moment.

{-20}

Damn it, he really couldn't move. And his HP, or rather SP {-20} was constantly ticking down. Wasn't there anything he could do?

{-20}

"[Status Window]!"

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv9  
Status: $Frozen 20

HP: 500/500  
SP: 279/500  
MP: 35/250

STR: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 22 ← (+0) →  
DEX: 16 ← (+0) →  
INT: 17 (19-2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 25 ← (+0) →  
LUK: 13 ← (+0) →

Points: 12  
Munny: 390 517}

{-20}

Okay, so could he get a little bit more explanation for that?! He couldn't move his arms so…

"Frozen? [Status]?"

{-20}

{Status: [Frozen 20], Duration: 000:00:00:14  
The Affected is frozen in a porous block of ice.  
Movements except for the eyes and mouth are impossible.  
Protects from outside attacks except gaseous ones.  
Vision and hearing is decreased by 50%.  
Deals 20 Ice-elemental damage every second.  
Is removed when hit with a fight-, fire-, sound- or time-elemental attack.}

{-20}

So it goes only for 13 more seconds. Good to know. Wait. Wouldn't that take all of his SP?!

{-20}

Uwaah! He had to get out of here fast! But how? Maybe an attack?

{-20}

"Power Strike!"

But nothing happened. Did that mean he couldn't use Power Strike, when he couldn't move?!

{-20}

Damn! What else could he do?!

"[Guard Break]!"

Ji-Han had only used the skill because it was a Fight-elemental skill, but to his surprise it actually worked. His Keyblade glowed and stabbed forward, destroying the ice on its way, which resulted in a chain-reaction that shattered all the ice around him.

"I'm back!" He declared happily, proud of his accomplishment. Then he quickly looked around to get ahold of the current situation. Together Naofumi and Shua had taken out another Blue Rhapsody and the last two were now focusing on them.

But without Ji-Han's support and Naofumi not allowed to get hit, they had quite the trouble against their enemies.

"[Shield Prison]!" Activated Naofumi as another ice beam was shot, capturing the originator as well as the beam. The ice got through the small gaps in the Shield Prison and soon covered all of it. But that was alright. As long as the Shield Prison stayed there, it would not crash onto the ground.

Meanwhile Ji-Han ran up to the other Heartless, who was preparing to shot a crystal of ice, jumped into the air and struck it twice, evaporating it.

"Finally back?" Greeted Naofumi. "Though you did get out faster than I expected…"

"The ice prison is weak to fire, sound, fight and time", Ji-Han explained. "I didn't had the room for Power Strike but Guard Break worked."

"We'll have to try out whether Guard Break or other attacks hurt the person inside when you use it", decided Naofumi. "Here it comes!"

The last part was referencing the Blue Rhapsody that had vanished from the inside of the frozen Shield Prison and reappeared out of dark warp point in the air next to the prison. Ji-Han went instantly into motion, letting the ice crystal fly above his head, before he jumped up and finished the fight.

Still, second fight and already down to near 159 SP? If that continued they could kiss their victory good-bye.

{Music Cup  
Round 13}

"I guess those would be lightning", Naofumi concluded about the next batch of enemies and Ji-Han had to agree. They had the same base figure of the Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies, only that both hat and cloak were yellow. Besides…

"…do you know Final Fantasy?" The Gamer asked the Hero of the Shield who answered in the affirmative. So they had come to the same conclusion based on the fact that fire, ice and lightning, were the three staple elements of the black magicians of Final Fantasy.

"[Observe]!"

{Yellow Opera Imitation Lv20  
Status: Simulated  
HP: $80/80  
MP: $180/180  
Type: Imitation  
Elemental Alignment: Lightning  
Elemental Resistances: Lightning (-1), Wood (0.5)  
A holographic enemy of the training program of the FO Vimana.  
It has no actual substance but its attacks  
are treated as real within the simulation.  
STR: $30 VIT: $20 DEX: $43  
INT: $31 WIS: $39 LUK: $19}

And they were right.

"Yep, it's Lightning", confirmed Ji-Han for real. "And it's got DEX and WIS around 40."

"Good to know", declared Naofumi as he moved to the front while the Heartless were summoning orbs of lightning on the tips of their hats. Then, in a flash, the orbs vanished and at the same time bolts of lightning came striking down from the sky. {-26} {-27} {-25} {-26} To be precise, four rained down on him and two on Shua. Naofumi had been completely ignored.

"These guys attack from above", Ji-Han quickly informed Naofumi of the situation who cursed.

"Keep moving!" He ordered his party members. "As magical lightning it's possible they always hit straight-down."

Ji-Han and Shua made to follow the orders, only for the Heartless to get into motion, too. Like insects they zipped all over the place, only stopping to create an orb of lightning at the tip of their hats.

Ji-Han and Shua quickly ran away and, soon enough, a lightning bolt hit the place they had been before. And since he couldn't see all his enemies anymore, Ji-Han continued to run. Rightfully as he soon heard another lightning bolt coming down behind him.

Then one Yellow Opera came to a stop in his field of vision, preparing another attack.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Declared Ji-Han as he charged the Heartless, only for the Heartless itself to tip its head and charge directly at Ji-Han. The Gamer, not expecting that, got hit dead-centre and pushed back, until the Heartless let go of him. {-44}

Holy shit, that hurt a lot. As in, in terms of damage. This was just a simulation so there was no actual pain but still, the SP-loss…

And that was when he got hit by a lightning strike {-25}, all the Heartless vanished and instead a message in large letters appeared:

{GAME OVER}

"Ah, damn it!" Cursed Ji-Han. "Guys, if the next world happens to have Yellow Operas in it, we'll run away, alright?"

"Smeargle?"

"You might be joking, but this is your life", reminded Naofumi. "Better to run away from an enemy you can't defeat than die to it."

"Right, right", conceded Ji-Han. "Then, I guess instead of trying the tournament another time we'll go to combat-mode again?"

"That would be an intelligent decision", agreed Naofumi. "And we also should study all their attacks closely. Like damage, MP cost, side-effects."

"Huh? Any special reason?"

"So that, if we meet one of them outside, we can decide whether or not to have Shua copy the attack."

"That's a really good idea!" Exclaimed Ji-Han. "Let's do that!"

"Smear!" Shua joined in the enthusiasm, only for his stomach to growl.

"After we got you something to eat", conceded Ji-Han. "You still haven't tried my Cooked Rice, if I remember…"

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

This chapter is most likely not the most interesting, but unfortunately if I had skipped the travel, some things wouldn't make sense. Thus this chapter. But at last I could show off the tournaments. The tournaments of Olympus Coliseum in canon Kingdom Hearts don't really make much sense. The Heartless are supposed to be driven by instincts, so qualifying for a tournament is a bit of a stretch. Moreover, you are practically killing these guys and that should be a bit of a no-no. So we've got simulated enemies instead.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	10. Chapter 9: Isekai

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your review, **merendinoemiliano**.

Chapter 9: Isekai

{You have reached your destination [135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk].}

"Huh?"

It took a bit for Ji-Han to remember where he was. That had to do with the fact that he just right now had been meditating. It wasn't the first time he had been interrupted from the Meditation and thus it hadn't been the first time he had forgotten where he was or what he was doing. That was the nature of the skill Meditation, after all.

As for the reason why he was meditating? When he had stood up that day and went to the training room, Naofumi had practically banned them from the tournament. With only five hours left until arrival, he had wanted Ji-Han to concentrate on leveling up his Night Eye instead.

Since the level of the enemies got higher the further they went, he didn't want them to use up all their MP fighting against all the small-fries only to meet a boss with ridiculous VIT like the Guard Armor. Even though they already had made it to Round 7 the day before!

Unfortunately, he couldn't really argue against that logic. They had to preserve their MP before they went onto the world. Who knew how strong the enemies there were?

Which reminded him, didn't the robotic-sounding message said something about that? Didn't it say that they finally reached the new world?

Ji-Han stood up from sitting cross-legged, the Gamer's Body preventing his legs from falling asleep, and quickly went towards the bridge.

"Took you long enough", declared Naofumi, sitting on a chair on the lower deck.

"You know how I get when my meditation is interrupted", Ji-Han defended himself. "How does it look?"

"Since the time starts as soon as we look, I haven't done so yet", Naofumi explained. "We also have to decide whether or not to scan the world."

"Zelretch did warn us that scanning the world might get someone's attention", Ji-Han reminded himself of the reason for their caution. "And for our first world, I think we should listen to him."

Naofumi nodded in agreement and turned towards the console. Some typing later and then they broke out of the dimensional sea and came to look upon a planet. It was similar looking to the earth that Ji-Han knew, only with the land and sea shifted around, making it impossible to find any of the continents of his home world.

"Without scanning we can't really tell anything about this world", mused Ji-Han. "Do we have to jump in blind?"

"Most likely", confirmed Naofumi as he stood up from his seat. "Ready to go?"

"I'll get the teleporters running." Huh, the password was still "MERLIN". He really should change it around at some point. Now that he thought about it, couldn't he write the password on a piece of paper and put it in his inventory and no one would be able to get it? A thought for later.

"Alright, we're good to go."

"[Beam me down]!" "[Beam me down]!" "[Smear, gle, gle, smear]!"

Ji-Han had just enough time to wonder if Shua was even able to get out on his own if he couldn't talk in normal words, before the green light of the teleportation took his vision.

Luckily Shua had not been left behind on the ship, as Ji-Han could tell once the green light had faded and they found themselves in some kind of forest area. The trees, fern and exotic flowers made it look like a tropical jungle, only that they were standing on a large road of earth and grass that you wouldn't find in uncharted jungle areas. Was this natural or artificial?

"We have not changed appearance", noted Naofumi. "That means that in this world both humans and Pokémon are not out of place."

"…you don't think we might have already found Shua's homeworld?" Ji-Han mused as he stepped out of the undergrowth onto the road and Naofumi shrugged.

"If this world called out to you because Shua was in your party, it could be", he exclaimed. "We should find out more once we found the inhabitants of this world."

"Alright. The let's go… that way." Ji-Han turned to the right. There wasn't any clue as to where to go so they might as well pick out a direction at random.

Or at last, that was the plan, but suddenly dark portals appeared around them, revealing six Heartless, Ji-Han had never seen before.

The first two were some kind of greenish slug the size of a pig called {Houseless} with an upright first half and the Heartless-Emblem on their houseless back, as well two large cartoonish eyeballs on top of their stalks. But those were just decorations, as his [Observe] informed him. The real eyes were the glowing yellow dots on the "chest"-area.

The other four Heartless were [Dire Plant]s, flowers with four leaves on the ground, a green hexagonal face with yellow border and below the yellow eyes a zigzagging line as mouth that was sometimes open and sometimes wasn't. It had four petals of pink color with white border that were arranged in a cross-like formation and around its stem a golden ring. The stem itself was thin above this ring, but widened into a plump drop-like structure below, with the black and red Heartless-Emblem at the front of it.

The plants were just small-fry around level 5 that couldn't even move. The slugs, however….

{Houseless Lv20  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 200/200  
MP: 150/150  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Elemental Alignment: Poison  
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.25), Poison (0), Shell (0.5)  
These Heartless in the shape of a slug like to slide on slime trails.  
The two large eyes on top of their heads are just decorations,  
their real eyes are the yellow dots below them.  
STR: 20 VIT: 17 DEX: 12  
INT: 38 WIS: 27 LUK: 28}

"Be careful", Ji-Han called out to his comrades. "The slugs got Poison! And resistance to Fight."

"Smear!" Shua spoke up in agreement as the plants all shot a hand-sized wooden sphere at them, two towards him and towards Ji-Han, while one of the slugs slid forward and the other gathered an orb of a sickly green liquid between its eye-stalks.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi summoned in-between them and the Heartless, while his party members made sure to just sit back and watch what these guys would do.

The first slug slid past the shield, while the second threw forth the orb of green liquid, flinging it harmlessly against the transparent shield where it soon disappeared. The wooden spheres, however, did not. Instead they bounced off the surface of the shield like a beam of light off a mirror, if slower and went back towards the Heartless. One Dire Plant got hit with its own attack, while two others got his with attacks from other Dire Plants, the same with the Houseless on the back.

For the slug it was just a minor inconvenience of 13 HP, but the Dire Plants seemed extremely weak to their own attack as they instantly evaporated when they got hit. Not that Ji-Han could appreciate it as the other slug had reached him and suddenly literally jumped at him.

"[Guard]!" Ji-Han activated quickly, stopping the Heartless from tackling him. The only problem was that now the Heartless was literally hanging from his Keyblade like a wet slimy towel, moving its stalks towards him.

"Eww! Get off! [Power Strike]!" Ji-Han swung the Keyblade assisted with a Power Strike, flinging the slug away from him. The actual attack did no damage, as the Heartless had moved in synch with the Keyblade. But once it was forced to stop by hitting a tree, now that was a different matter.  
{HP: 188/200}

Meanwhile the other slug had decided to forgo ranged attacks and slid towards them with trice the speed of its brethren, leaving behind a trail of green slime and Ji-Han quickly [Dodge Roll]ed out of the way. But it stopped before reaching him and Shua used a series of Scratch-attacks on it.

That was, when Ji-Han noticed a wooden sphere originating from the last surviving Dire Plant coming towards him. Luckily those projectiles were not that fast and thus he could activate "[Guard]" in time to fling the projectile right back at its owner, eliminating it. {+7 EXP}

Now, that left the two Houseless.

"[Shield Prison]!" Naofumi captured the one further away while it was preparing to shoot a glop at them. Meanwhile the closer one jumped towards Shua but luckily it was slow enough that he saw it coming and got out of the way. Instead Ji-Han used the opportunity where its attention was at his partner, to attack it himself. The slug now turned to face him, allowing Shua to attack its back instead while Ji-Han still continued, if more cautiously.

"Ji-Han, slug on five!"

As soon as he heard Naofumi's warning, Ji-Han turned around and jumped back as he did so. That was so he would be able to keep both, the original enemy and the newcomer in his field of vision. Ignoring either one of them would just result in getting hit by an attack, something he had learned in the training room the hard way. In this case, the second one did make its way towards him, but it was so slow and so far away, that the first one was the one who attacked him first, aiming for him before jumping at him.

But since Ji-Han saw that coming, he could easily side-step and just attack the Heartless once it missed him. {+450 EXP}

And that was… wait, didn't that thing just gave them way more EXP than any of the other Heartless so far?!

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

SPLASH!

Ji-Han turned to look behind him, where he had heard the sound of something wet hitting a solid surface. The wet thing in question was a green sticky blob, while the solid surface was the transparent shield now directly in front of him, having blocked the attack of the Heartless just in time.

"Don't space out!" Naofumi admonished Ji-Han who apologized sheepishly, as he ran around the shield to get to the Heartless. Which proved to be the Houseless the Hero of the Shield had previously imprisoned and, with being the only target left, stood no chance against Ji-Han and Shua's combined attacks. {+450 EXP}

"So that were our first enemies in this world", summarized Ji-Han afterwards. "Plants and slugs. Were any of those in Traverse Town?"

Naofumi shook his head.

"The only Heartless I have encountered outside the city areas and the streets of the rural area are Shadows", he elaborated. "I don't know if that is because there were not enough people living in other places or if Traverse Town is special in that regard."

So they still didn't know if they were close to civilization or not. They could only continue along the path and hope to meet someone.

But for now they had loot to look through!

"Oh, Shua, could you please go to the place the Dire Plants where and see if they dropped anything?" He asked the Pokémon as he took a look upon the thing that the second Houseless had dropped. "[Observe]."

{[Slug Mucus (25ml) - Rank: Super]  
Base-Value: 25 000 Munny  
A test tube with the mucus of a slug.  
Increases natural regeneration of skin cells and is used in medicine.  
Using it raw on the skin increases HP-regeneration by 0.1 HP  
for 5 minutes for every ml Slug Mucus used.}

"A healing item?!" Shouted Ji-Han surprised. Even if it wasn't the best one, only able to heal a total of… 12 HP over a duration of 5 minutes, the thought that he could actually farm healing items… with how only boss monsters had given them out previously, he never expected that.

"Do you want this one?" Ji-Han asked Naofumi who thought about it.

"Yes", he finally answered. "This is just too few to be of use to you but if we are lucky, I can unlock a healing shield from this.

Right, there was that possibility, too!

He gave Naofumi the vial who uncorked it and let the liquid inside drip into the green jewel of his shield, until it unlocked a new one, giving Ji-Han back the rest: 10 ml.

"It actually is a healing shield. 0.1 Percent of the MAX-HP. Per second."

Wow, that was way better! Using it on its own only worked each minute and only for 5 of them. And they wouldn't run out of mucus with the shield.

"But it only works for me."

Ji-Han cursed. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. But at last that would allow Naofumi to regenerate HP incredibly fast between fights. That should come in useful once they actually met enemies able to harm him.

"Smeargle, smear!" Shua came back enthusiastically from the scavenging, carrying… a flower pot?

The flowers dropped flower pots. That… made sense… but would people even buy those? At last the Leon Shop should… not that it mattered for the moment.

Ji-Han gave Naofumi the flower pot, who absorbed it into the shield. The Hero of the Shield studied the unlocked features before telling his party members:

"I got a shield that allows me to shoot out seeds after storing them. It might be useful as a distraction."

"So, giving you any seeds we find, got it", acknowledged Ji-Han. With that they had done everything they needed to do and so had no reason to stall any longer. Maybe they could finally meet a person to give them some clues as to what they were supposed to do.

But for now the only thing they met were more Heartless.

{Creeper Plant Lv20  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 200/200  
MP: 100/100  
Type: Emblem-Heartless  
Elemental Alignment: Wood, Leaf  
Elemental Resistances: Water (0.75), Leaf (0.5)  
A flower-like Heartless.  
It's rooted in one place, but staying far away isn't enough,  
since it can spit seeds and attack from below with its sharp roots.  
STR: 39 VIT: 22 DEX: 0  
INT: 39 WIS: 27 LUK: 20}

The four-legged, or rather four-rooted version of the Dire Plant. It had a black round face with spikes in a "plus"-like fashion. The ones horizontal were yellow, the ones vertical orange. And behind each spike were a large petal of the inverted color of the spike, a yellow petal behind an orange spike and an orange petal behind a yellow spike. And while it also had a ring around its stem like the Dire Plant, the ones of the Creeper Plant was black, which the body below taking on a darker shade of green. Unlike its lower version it also fired three wooden projectiles at once in a fan-like fashion, summoned vines to whip around the sides of its body and wooden stakes rising from the ground wherever it pleased – generally below one of the companions. If it hadn't been for the description from Observe, Ji-Han and Shua would definitively had been hit. Naofumi actually did get hit, but he was Naofumi.

{Awake Instinct Lv15  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 170/170  
MP: 85/85  
Type: Pureblood-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: None, Data  
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.5), Darkness (0), Mystic (0.25)  
A Heartless that emerges from the darkness within digital data.  
Like its normal counterpart, it can make itself untouchable for a short time.  
STR: 20 VIT: 24 DEX: 30  
INT: 18 WIS: 23 LUK: 18}

Those guys resembled the Shadows in its general shape, but instead of a solid black mass, they were made out of multiple pixel-like blocks in the colors black, gray, white and dull shades of orange and violet. And those pixels did not always come together into a perfect shape, but left quite a lot of gaps within them. Only the yellow eyes were the same. But like its counterpart it was able to flatten itself on the ground and attack with scratches. But additionally it was able to morph its head to add a mouth with sharp triangles on its edges, which it used to bite.

These guys dropped Data Fragments which according to [Observe], which had leveled up from all the usage, were:

{[Data Fragment (Small) - Rank: Inferior]  
Base-Value: 1 000 Munny  
A small physical fragment of garbage data  
with no connection to any program.}

So far they had gotten two of a small size and two of medium size. And since there was no clear purpose of those, Ji-Han guessed they crafting ingredients, similar to the Lucid Shards. So they fed one of the smaller ones to Naofumi.

But the most important thing that the new enemies gave them was EXP. Defeating a Creeper Plant or Awake Instinct got Ji-Han 350 EXP each. A lot compared to Traverse Town. Enough that with the EXP gained from finishing the Armor Cup, he was now level 10.

And suddenly his stats went weird. Instead of the expected 550 Max-HP, he got 790 and instead of the expected 275 MP, he suddenly had 370. And his MP-regeneration doubled. That had been such a large jump, he had been completely baffled. Naofumi had suggested that all 10 levels of his got a better bonus and Ji-Han was inclined to agree. But they would see more once he leveled up again.

For now they had different problems.

{Bug Bite Lv27  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 500/500  
MP: 200/200  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: None, Shell, Sound  
Elemental Resistances: Lightning (0.9), Wood (0.75), Leaf (0.25)  
A Heartless in the shape of a stag beetle.  
It can vibrate its wings fast enough to create shockwaves.  
STR: 63 VIT: 59 DEX: 56  
INT: 25 WIS: 23 LUK: 29}

Namely two level 30 stag beetles of human size and dark green color with the black Heartless-Emblem in-between their pincers, accompanied by a single level 5 immobile Dire Plant.

"What the heck is up with this game balance?!" Ji-Han shouted as he used [Dodge Roll] to duck under the charge of one of the beetles that cut down the trees behind him. The second beetle was currently biting down at Naofumi's Shield while the Hero of the Shield was doing his best to push the enemy back.

"Smear!" Exclaimed Shua as he attacked the Bug Bite with Naofumi with a Power Strike, only to deal only 9 damage. Damn it, no Fight-weakness, a VIT nearly as high as the Guard Armor from the Armor Cup and there were two of them.

"Shua", he called out through the voice chat as he turned to look at the Heartless that had passed him. "Try and copy one of their attacks. Don't worry about MP right now!" He had hoped that Shua could add an elemental attack but they needed power and they needed it now!

Ji-Han studied the big Heartless as it turned around to face him again, flying towards him fast. But not as fast as when he had been charging at him. So the charge had been a special skill. But even without that it had still 56 DEX, too fast for Ji-Han to run away.

"[Guard]! Ugh!" {-66}

Additionally, as Ji-Han found out the hard way, trying to block something as long as the pincers with something as thin as his Keyblade, was not working well. In fact, if he hadn't had the Gamer's Body, he was pretty sure, that would have cut off both of his arms.

Seeing how defense didn't work, he attacked.

"[Power Strike]!

Yet even that did only 14 HP-damage, not that much more than Shua.

{-66}

PING!

{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}

And the Heartless bit down again. If Ji-Han continued to stay there, he would become bug food!

"[High Jump]!"

High Jump was the skill that Ji-Han had gotten when his Keyblade Mastery had reached level 32. It made him more resistant to fall damage and, like the name suggested, jump higher. Not by much considering how it was still at level 2, but enough that when the Heartless bit down on him again, it missed him. Instead Ji-Han landed on top of its head. He didn't stay there, because even though trying to rodeo the bug might sound cool, he didn't want to do it when the ride was supposedly able to create shockwaves with its wings.

So, instead he continued to jump and, while still in mid-air, called out to Naofumi through their voice chat:

"Prison me!"

Then his right foot touched the ground and he used [Dodge Roll] to prevent himself from landing badly and stumbling.

"[Shield Prison]!" Naofumi activated at his position on his request. Unfortunately, that made him miss how his enemy started vibrating with its wings and create the shockwave that Ji-Han had been so wary of, hitting him as well as Shua.

"Gle!"

Ji-Han apologized in his mind and hoped that the Guard Armor would protect the Pokémon from the worst of it. But he couldn't spare to think about someone else for the moment.

"[Status Window]!" He summoned and as fast as he could, put all 17 of his left points into STR. Then he closed the Status Window and opened the [Inventory], but did nothing with it. Instead he ignored it for now and stood patiently within the confinements.

Heartless had the troublesome feature that the walls of the prison didn't really keep them in or out and while the Bug Bite-Heartless was large, it wasn't too large to fit. Thus the Shield Prison would be pretty useless against them.

If he wanted to be protected that is.

"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han activated as soon as the Bug Bite warped into the Shield Prison, before it even could orientate itself. Unfortunately he couldn't tell how much the damage had increased, as the Observe-panel had closed when the Heartless had gone out of his field of vision, but he also didn't want to reopen it as he didn't want to waste one second to lay the pain onto the Heartless.

"[Power Strike]!" He used again, at the same moment that the Bug Bite bit at him. {-66} But when the bug wanted to do it again, Ji-Han activated [High Jump].

The Gamer hit the ceiling of the Shield Prison with his back {-4}, but that was a lot more preferable to the pincers. And this time Ji-Han stayed on the back of the Heartless. After all, this close he would get his by the shockwave no matter where he was. But he still did not try to ride the Bug Bite, preferring to hit him with [Power Strike] after [Power Strike].

But the Heartless soon moved, throwing off the human on its back. But it still had trouble maneuvering inside this small space.

Unfortunately, that was the moment that the time for the Shield Prison had run out and now both were free again. Which the Bug Bite instantly used to turn around and charge at Ji-Han. And at this distance, he could not avoid it. {-100}

Ji-Han fought through the pain and, while {-4} getting rammed {-4} through a couple of trees {-4}, activated [Power Strike] again. Then the Heartless stopped and Ji-Han flew a bit further, before being stopped by another tree. {-9}

Then the Heartless unfolded its wings and Ji-Han, who was just picking himself up, could not stop it from creating a shockwave. But he still could use Guard.

Now one could wonder how he could hope to block a freaking sound wave with a stick, when he couldn't block the pincers. However, Guard had a special effect that made it so that as long as Ji-Han could hit the attack with the Keyblade, it would be stopped, even if it was made of fire or water. Or sound. Thanks to that blocking a large sound wave was actually easier for him to block than a single thin pincer. As long as he got the timing right. Luckily for him, the attack was so powerful it sent the trees and the earth beneath it flying away, allowing Ji-Han to tell where the shockwave was.

"[Guard]!" He activated, slamming his Keyblade against the incoming wave and not only blocked it successfully, but send all of it flying in the opposite direction – towards the Bug Bite.

"[Observe]!" He activated as he ran forwards with the wave, just in time to see how the HP of the Heartless went from {114} to {88}.

The Heartless was too stunned to do anything, allowing Ji-Han to attack it with another [Power Strike].

{Critical!}

{+875 EXP}

And that was that with that enemy. Finally. Unfortunately, for all the boss-like power it had, it didn't count as a boss, meaning, he didn't get any Potions or Munny out of it. But at last it dropped something. A large square piece of… bug shell? Why was there a bug shell in the perfect shape of a square?

But Ji-Han had no time to waste on that, he had to check up on Shua and Naofumi.

Thus he quickly put the bug shell in the inventory he had opened earlier in case he needed to use a Recovery Potion in his battle against the Bug Bite and ran back the way that the Heartless had pushed him. Soon he came upon his two party members, hiding behind Naofumi's shield while he stood against a shockwave of the other Bug Bite.

"[Observe]!" He activated. Huh, so 385 HP left.

"Finally back?" Naofumi greeted him without looking away from the enemy. "Any tips on how to beat him?"

"I just put all of my points into STR", Ji-Han replied. "And Guard works well against the shockwave. But I still lost a lot of HP in the process."

"How many attacks would you definitively survive?"

"Disregarding surprise CRITs, four charges or five bites. Never got hit with the shockwave."

"Then I won't let you get hit more than twice!"

Ji-Han acknowledged his declaration and ran forward, the Heartless meeting his charge with one of its own, only as attack.

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

Naofumi summoned his transparent shield directly in front of the Heartless, letting it ram against it while Ji-Han skipped around it and attacked the stopped Big Bite with a [Power Strike]. He then quickly got back behind the shield, which blocked a bite attack. The Heartless was now crawling around the shield and Ji-Han took steps back.

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!" Naofumi was now activating, running forward and crushing the Heartless between his centipede shield and the Air Strike Shield. The Bug Bite did notice him and even turned around, now trying to bite his head off with its pincers. Unfortunately for it, Naofumi had enough HP to spare the few that it actually managed to take off. And its attention being on the shield hero, suited them just fine.

"[Power Strike]! [Power Strike]! [Power Strike]!"

Ji-Han managed to get three hits in until the Air Strike Shield vanished, freeing the Big Bite from its temporary confinement. Which now was going again after Ji-Han. The Gamer quickly used a [Dodge Roll] to get out of the way and behind Naofumi, but because the Heartless was currently not charging at him, it was easily able to turn around and come after him that way. Naofumi tried to get in its way, but it was too fast and managed to outmaneuver the Hero of the Shield.

"Dodge!" Naofumi told thus his companion who, not being able to see behind him, had to trust him blindly, using yet another [Dodge Roll] right after the first one ended, thus avoiding the sharp pincers clashing together behind him.

"Continue!" Naofumi urged and Ji-Han followed his instructions, again and again avoiding the attack of the Heartless. "Jump!"

Ji-Han activated [High Jump] and got into the air, but it had been too late. The Bug Bite's Charge hit him directly at the back of his knee and dragged him with it. {-102} And because Ji-Han had its back towards it, he couldn't even attack it while it did so, helpless until it stopped, sending him flying forward again, luckily this time along the open path and not against a tree.

But Ji-Han couldn't relax yet as it now came after him with its normal, yet still high speed. So he quickly picked himself up and turned around to face the enemy. Who was already there!

"[Dodge Roll]!" Ji-Han activated the first thing coming to his mind, only to realize that this was exactly what he had done the previous time.

"[High Jump]!" To avoid the same outcome, he instantly jumped after his first Dodge Roll, looking back to see where the enemy was. But he couldn't see him. And when Ji-Han tried to look back to the front, he noticed that with his intention of looking back, he made himself turn around during his jump – and landed backwards on the back of the Bug Bite. In a rodeo-position. Something he had all the time tried to avoid. And even backwards!

Knowing he wouldn't be able to stay on it, he instantly used the time it was still carrying him and not trying to get him off, to hit it with another [Power Strike].

Now it tried to throw him off and, since Ji-Han hadn't tried to get a grip, succeeded.

"[Shield Prison]!"

Luckily Naofumi was once again in range and captured Ji-Han in the sphere of shields before the Heartless could punish Ji-Han for riding on it, no matter how involuntarily.

Ji-Han stood up within the confinements, once again readying himself by opening the inventory. Then the enemy appeared and Ji-Han instantly used a [Power Strike] on it. {+875 EXP} To his surprise, that had been enough to kill it, this time without dropping anything.

"You can let me out, Naofumi-Hyung", he thus spoke through the voice chat. "It's finished."

The Shield Prison vanished and Ji-Han made his way towards Shua and the Hero of the Shield whose shield in question changed to take on a green slimy look.

"That could have gone better", noted Ji-Han, before he opened his [Status Window].

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv10  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 386/790  
MP: 101/370

STR: 44 (39+3+2) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →  
DEX: 18 (16+2) ← (+0) →  
INT: 19 (19-2+2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 27 (25+2) ← (+0) →  
LUK: 15 (13+2) ← (+0) →

Points: 0  
Munny: 390 517}

"Results: I am down to half of my HP and a third of my MP", the Gamer continued. "I need to hit them with… five? Ten? Power Strikes depending on how lucky I get. And I used up all of my points to raise my STR to even get that much. Oh, and one of them dropped this: [Inventory]!"

Ji-Han took out the bug shell, but Naofumi told him to keep it for the moment until they could cut it down to size.

"My HP is going to be full again soon", he continued. "The problem is Shua. He copied the shockwave and while it is slightly stronger than a Power Strike, it also costs 25 MP and hits allies as shown with the Dire Plant." Oh, right, there had been a flower there, too, hadn't it? "It also doesn't increase the rate of criticals, making it worse against the Bug Bites than the Power Strike."

Damn, that was a bust.

"He also used up nearly all of his MP against the Bug Bite. If we go up against them again, you could die."

That really wasn't good.

"Should we retreat for now?" Ji-Han asked, only for a scream to cut through the forest. A scream of panic, belonging to a young girl.

Ji-Han stared at his companions in shock, before cursing and running towards the origin of the sound. Please let them be not too late! And please don't let there be any Bug Bites!

"Alright, that's enough, leave us alone!" He then heard the same voice. And, seeing as the person in question was even able to talk back to the aggressor, it meant that that one wasn't a homicidal monster like a Heartless. Ji-Han felt so relieved, but he still went to see what was going on. There were so many manga and webtoons were the main character rescued the damsel in distress right as the bandits wanted to get physical, he'd rather not be too late.

Luckily what he saw wasn't looking like it would escalate into that. In fact, it wasn't like any hold-up he had ever seen before.

There were only two bandits in question. The first was a literal piece of golden shit with two thin arms and metal rings around its fingers, as well as a row of teeth going all around it body, making it separate from the lower body every time it talked, revealing a red inside with a long and a wide red tongue which was hanging out at the front all the time. The second was a pink humanoid mouse looking like an old and worn stuffed animal with a left eye looking like it got punched and a row of teeth full of gaps. The level 4 mouse with the name of [Chuumon] was also hanging around the tip of the level 11 shit monster called [Sukamon].

And Ji-Han knew these two to be "bandits", not because of their repulsive appearance, but because the golden piece of shit was sitting on a branch holding a pink piece of shit up in the air threatening while it looked towards two other people surrounded by other pink pieces of shit.

Those two were the human girl that Ji-Han had heard previously and a plant monster coming up to her waist. The girl had light brown eyes and light brown hair coming down in two wavy strands at the sides of her face. All the rest of it was hidden by the large pink cowboy-hat. Though her red dress was reminding Ji-Han more of the indigenous peoples of the Americas with the fringes on the bottom and the blanket-like scarf around her neck, also with fringes. The brown belt around her wait not so much. Other than that she also wore light brown leather gloves with buckles and white shoes with Leather straps, as well as pink socks. Additionally, she was carrying a brown bag on her right side.

[Chosen of Sincerity  
Lv1 Tachikawa, Mimi]

The green plant monster was standing on its two trunk-like legs and though the flat arms with purple claws at the ends reached down to the ground, they did nothing to support the round body with a dinosaur-like tail or the also round yet double-sized head with large marble-like green eyes, thin and wide mouth with crocodile teeth and the exotic pink flower on top of its head.

[Partner of Sincerity  
Lv12 Palmon]

That was also something a bit curious, the human being a Chosen with a level of 1 and the plant monster having a higher level than even the Sukamon, who was now threatening the two:

"If you don't want to get covered in poop, you'll give us all your stuff!"

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Repulsive Duo: Maybe they just Need a Hug

Being bombarded with excrements is no way to treat a lady, but it is still not enough to warrant death.

Protect Mimi and Palmon from Sukamon and Chuumon without killing them.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Do not let Mimi get hit once.  
2: Do not let Palmon get hit once.

Completion Award: +1 000 EXP  
Increased reputation with Mimi and Palmon.

Bonus Award:  
1: +500 EXP.  
Increased reputation with Mimi.  
2: +500 EXP.  
Increased reputation with Palmon.

Completion Failure: +500 EXP.  
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}

This was a lot less serious than he had expected. But even without someone's life on the line, there was no reason for him not to help out. Thus he accepted the quest and walked closer while calling out:

"Am I interrupting something?"

All four turned to face him, surprised at his sudden appearance.

"What's with that phrase? Are you trying to act cool?"

Ji-Han flinched. The one who had asked that question was no one else that Naofumi who had joined him while he had been spacing out looking at the quest alert.

"No, no, no", the Gamer quickly denied. "I just had to say something to get their attention, right?"

"You got their attention, now what?"

"Now… isn't it there turn to say something?"

"Adults!" Mimi exclaimed in delight as she ran towards them. "You have no idea how glad I am to see that there are adults here! Listen, there are all these monsters attacking us, there is no decent food, I haven't bathed or changed clothes in ages! I am so glad I can finally go home!"

"And why would you think that?" Naofumi interrupted the girl, stunning her. "From your little speech I get that you have never met any adult after coming to this place. So why do you instantly assume the first adults you meet can suddenly solve all of your problems? Did it ever cross your mind that maybe we are the ones at fault for them?!"

"What my comrade is trying to say", Ji-Han quickly spoke to reassure the overwhelmed girl and the plant monster who had during Naofumi's talk positioned itself in front of Mimi, its left arm held out in front of her protectively, "is that we are new here, too and need to find out what's going on, too."

"Oi, don't ignore us!" "Ignore us!" Sukamon and Chuumon shouted annoyed and the former threw the poop in his hand towards them.

"[Guard]!" Shouted Ji-Han and not only blocked the gross Projectile, he also threw it back towards the surprised duo, hitting Sukamon directly in the face and knocking them off the branch, with even Sukamon's lower part.

A 'Thud' was hurt as the two monsters hit the ground, seeing stars.

"As he was saying", Naofumi continued for him, ignoring what just happened, "can you tell us anything about where we are?"

"Ugh", voiced Chuumon, getting back its bearings. "How dare you-"

"[Shield Prison]."

"Uah! Let us out, let us out!"

"Now regarding my question…" Naofumi continued to ignore the two monsters rampaging inside his sphere of shields. Mimi and Ji-Han just stared at the shield hero incredulous, while Shua let out a "Smeargle" in an admiring tone of voice.

"You are here on File Island", Palmon explained. "Or at last I think we are. We landed here after Devimon attacked us."

"Devimon?" Repeated Naofumi and Palmon elaborated:

"Devimon is the strongest, most evil Digimon there is. He attacked us in our sleep and then send us flying in all directions."

"…does that mean there are more of you?"

"Right", declared Mimi, "we have to find the others! Let's go!"

"Wait a moment", Naofumi stopped her as he asked Palmon: "Does the term 'keyhole' tell you anything?"

"Keyhole?" The plant monster, or rather Digimon, repeated. "You mean that thing that people put keys in?"

"No. What about the center of File Island?"

"There is a tall mountain in the center of File Island. Why?"

"If we do not find the keyhole, this place is going to be destroyed", Naofumi elaborated. "And the keyhole is at the most important location, like the center of the island."

"I think Devimon already destroyed File Island", noted Palmon. "At last he split it in many pieces."

"The destruction I am talking about is a lot more… final… wait. I am just guessing, but the mountain you talked about is on a different piece of File Island, isn't it?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Because anything else would have been too easy."

"It looks like we'll have to put the pieces of File Island back together first", realized Ji-Han.

"Or get back to the ship, scan the place and then get back down where we want", interjected Naofumi. "Unless you don't want to scan the world because of what we discussed earlier, there is no reason for us to stay here any longer."

"Are you going to leave us alone after hearing we've been attacked?" Exclaimed Mimi. "What kind of selfish person are you?!"

"Argh! Finally free! You are so going to get it!" Before Naofumi could answer, the Shield Prison had vanished and Sukamon started throwing poop in revenge.

"[Air Strike Shield]."

But they had no chance of touching Naofumi, who summoned his transparent shield and not only pushed back the projectiles, but also directed the shield towards the two Digimon, hitting them with the full front and throwing them backwards.

Then Naofumi turned his attention back towards Mimi.

"I don't care if I am selfish", he told her coldly. "We have better things to do than baby-sit a couple of brats."

"Maybe we do", acknowledged Ji-Han. "But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got hurt because I left her like that."

Naofumi studied Ji-Han.

"Is this about Akari?" He asked and the Gamer flinched.

"Maybe…"

"Do what you want. You are the one who wants to save the world."

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Chosen in Distress: Destined of the Digiworld

Even Chosen Ones need help from time to time. Especially if they are children with no idea what they are supposed to do.

Gather the seven Chosen Ones send to the digital world and protect them from Devimon and his henchmen until they have found out the purpose of their summoning.

Bonus Objective:  
Do not kill any Digimon except Devimon.

Completion Award: +5 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.

Completion Failure: +1000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}

And now he got a quest to make it official, so he quickly accepted it.

"Hey", Palmon called out. "Did anybody see where Sukamon and Chuumon went?"

"Why do you care?" Inquired Naofumi. "Weren't they just bothering you?"

"No, I think Palmon has a point", interjected Ji-Han. "I've got a quest to protect Mimi-Yang and Palmon from these two and it hasn't completed yet."

"Exactly", agreed Mimi, before noticing what the Gamer had actually said. "Wait. What does that even mean?!"

"We'll tell you if it becomes important", Naofumi cut off any explanation Ji-Han would have given. "Weren't you going to look for your comrades?"

"Right, everybody, follow me!" With that Mimi took charge, stunning the others.

"Well, it's not like we have any clues", reasoned Ji-Han as he went to follow her. "Might as well continue just going in a random direction."

"Ah!" Cried Mimi suddenly out, alerting the others. There, from behind a tree Sukamon had grabbed ahold of her bag, pulling it towards him.

"Let go!" She told him as she was pulling back, not wanting to give up on it. Ji-Han was already moving, when suddenly all around them Heartless appeared: Three Awake Instincts, two Creeper Plants and five Dire Plants.

"[Thousand Feet Charge]", Naofumi intoned at the same moment Ji-Han called out to get the girl. They had both realized that Mimi as a normal human would be easy prey for the Heartless. So it was important for them that Naofumi put himself in between her and any danger.

Unfortunately, while he could easily defend her from the Heartless, there was still the matter of Sukamon currently clinging to her bag. Normally Naofumi would have used Air Strike Shield to separate the two, but it was still on cooldown after he had used in on the Digimon earlier. And Shield Prison would just confine Mimi, Sukamon and Chuumon to the same space because of how close they were to each other.

That was why he did something he had never done since meeting Ji-Han: He threw a punch.

Without being able to react, Naofumi's fist hit the small Chuumon straight in its… everywhere really, considering how small Chuumon was. And Naofumi had been running with Thousand Feet Charge active. Even with his STR being literal crap, the Digimon couldn't ignore something coming at him with that velocity. He was literally flying off Sukamon while screaming, alerting his buddy and distracting him at the same time. That allowed the Hero of the Shield to grab ahold of Mimi in an embrace with his left arm and pull her back. And, thanks to Sukamon being distracted by Chuumon's sudden absence, loosening the grip on the bag, making the Digimon let go of it at the same time. All the while Naofumi's back produced a shield for Mimi just as well as any real one.

"[Shield Prison]!"

And then it was easy to capture the overwhelmed Sukamon and Chuumon, allowing them to concentrate on the Heartless.

"Mimi!" Palmon shouted in panic as she made her way over to her partner, while Ji-Han and Shua left the protection of the human to the shield hero and went to cull the enemies' numbers. Shua to a Dire Plant, as he was easily able to kill one of those even without the use of MP and Ji-Han to an Awake Instinct, as they were the only mobile enemies.

Ji-Han stroke at first Awake Instinct twice in succession, but then hit only air the third time. Not because the Heartless had avoided the attack, but because it had evaporated already, dropping a Data Fragment. Ji-Han had completely forgotten he had increased his STR, allowing him to take down an Awake Instinct with one hit less. {+350 EXP}

Unfortunately for him, that moment of distraction made him get hit multiple times, when the Dire and Creeper Plants started firing their seeds, throwing him to the ground. {-28} {-1} {-1} {-28}

PING!

{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}

That was nice, but he still would prefer not getting hit.

On the other hand, to their luck the wide spread array of seeds the Creeper Plants used, made them hit two Dire Plants, eliminating them instantly, while Shua took care of a third. {+7 EXP}

Picking himself and the Data Fragment up from the ground, Ji-Han got down instantly again, this time with a [Dodge Roll] to avoid a bite-attack from an Awake Instinct. And then he continued further, not turning around to face the Heartless going after him. Getting hit with the all the attacks made him remember, that there were a bunch of enemies around that would hit you if you sat still. Instead he went towards the Creeper Plant that was already in the direction he was facing.

Using [Dodge Roll] as he felt the earth being disturbed below the feet, he avoided the wooden spikes coming from some Creeper Plant, maybe the one in front of him, maybe another one, he reached his target and with two quick hits, eliminated it. {+350 EXP}

Then he continued to the first new enemy he saw, another Creeper Plant.

…maybe getting rid of the grounded Creeper Plants first would have been the better idea. Unlike the Awake Instincts, they couldn't avoid his attacks. {+350 EXP} No matter, that was the last of them. {+7 EXP} And another Dire Plant gone thanks to Shua.

"[Poison Ivy]!" Huh? Who? Oh, that was Palmon, grabbing an Awake Instinct with her to Vines elongated claws and throwing him against the last Dire Plant. Which did not kill the latter, but another Scratch-Attack from Shua did, making it leave behind a flower pot the size of an inch. {+7 EXP}

That left two Awake Instincts. One near Shua and the second now directly in his face.

Ji-Han stumbled back to avoid the Scratch-Attack of the Heartless, before stomping on the earth to get back his footing and reverse his direction, now leaning towards the offender, his Keyblade in hand. Two strikes later and the Heartless was done for. {+750 EXP}

"[Poison Ivy]!" "Smeargle!"

Meanwhile the two Mons were giving the last Awake Instinct a bad time. Even if they could…

"[Observe]"

…only do 15 damage a time tops. Still, not wanting to waste more time, Ji-Han went to support them. {+350 EXP}

"Smear!" Shua's triumphant shout was now filling the clearing. Did something good happen?

"What kind of Digimon were those?" Interrupted Mimi his train of thoughts, before he could continue. "They didn't even gave Palmon the chance to introduce them!"

"I don't actually know what kind of Digimon those were either", declared Palmon.

Ji-Han went to explain the concept of Heartless, only for an "[Air Strike Shield]" and a scream to interrupt him, followed by a Sukamon and Chuumon flying into their midst.

"Do you think you can make all this trouble and then just run away?" Naofumi asked, walking towards the two menacingly.

"We're sorry, we're sorry", they apologized, prostrating themselves on the ground.

Ji-Han sighed. Damn, there were so many things happening.

"What do you plan on doing with them?" Ji-Han asked the shield hero. "It's not like they have anything to give. Oh, and please don't kill them. I fail the quest if you do."

"No promises."

"Please don't kill us!" Sukamon spoke up. "We'll be good!"

"Be good!" Repeated Chuumon.

"Then you'll leave us alone?" Mimi asked, only for Palmon to stop her:

"Wait! First tell us if you have seen any other humans around here?"

"Humans?"

"People who look like her", Palmon clarified, pointing towards her partner.

"Come to think of it…" Chuumon spoke and Sukamon remembered, too:

"Oh, yeah, I forgot! We saw something falling into the old ruins with a Tentomon."

"If he's with a Tentomon, than that must be Koushirou-kun!" Mimi exclaimed happily. "Can you bring us to him?!"

"We could…" Sukamon began.

"…but what would we get out of it?" Chuumon finished.

Unamused Naofumi changed his shield to- holy shit, what was that?! That looked like the mouth of a monster worm, with a circular row of sharp teeth.

"If you bring us to the ruins, I won't shove this into your faces", he declared, making the two panic.

"We'll take you!" "Take you!" They promised and went to go, only for Naofumi to stop them.

"Not so fast", he decided, making them freeze. "Ji-Han, Shua, get the drop items."

"Right", Ji-Han acknowledged and put the flower pot in his inventory.

"Where do these things even come from", wondered Palmon, "I have never seen Digimon leave behind anything."

"That's because those are Heartless", Ji-Han explained, before frowning. "No, wait, the fact that they leave things behind is because I am the Gamer. It turns me into a video game character."

"Video game character?" Mimi repeated. "What does that mean? Do you level up?!"

"That's just one of the features", Ji-Han confirmed. "But coming back to the Heartless, those guys are creatures of darkness, twisted emotions or hearts who attack people to kill and make them just like them. Their main goal is the Heart of the World. If they reach that, they are able to devour the whole world. That's why we are looking for the Keyhole, the only access point to the Heart of the World and close it permanently."

"So you are on a mission to save the world?" Mimi asked and Ji-Han nodded.

"You aren't?" He inquired, looking at her title [Chosen of Sincerity].

"No", she denied vehemently. "I just want to go home!"

"Are you guys finished?" Naofumi asked impatiently. "Because we are."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han as he went to follow his teammates and the duo of Digimons who lead them towards a cliff.

"Right over there", Sukamon told them, pointing towards the other side, separated from their not by a great chasm, but a large river… no, wait, he could see the end of the cliff. That was actually a small island, separated by a stretch of sea. He had just confused it for a river because the flow of water was so fast.

"How are we supposed to get over there?!" Mimi exclaimed but Naofumi had already thought of a solution.

"How far can you stretch your Poison Ivy and how much can you carry with it?" He asked the Digimon, who answered positively to his idea:

"If it is one at a time, then I should be able to carry everyone", it said and used [Poison Ivy] to extend her vines and grab ahold of a tree on the other side. "Climb aboard, Mimi!"

"No, I should go first", interrupted Ji-Han. "Just in case Heartless appear there. Then Shua, then Mimi-Yang, then Naofumi-Hyung." Sukamon and Chuumon wouldn't be of any use further so he decided to let them stay here. "Oh, and take off the Guard Armor, Shua. That might be too heavy for Palmon."

"Smear!" Shua acknowledged and did as he was told.

"You can take that off?!" Exclaimed Mimi in surprise as Ji-Han put the item in his inventory.

"Of course he can take it off", he told her. "It's armor."

"I didn't realize Digimon could have detachable body parts", she mused.

"Oh, he's not a Digimon either. He's a Pokémon. Note how he can only say specific things?"

"Smeargle, smeargle, smear."

"See? Only able to say their species name is one of the tell-tale signs of Pokémon. Not that there aren't Pokémon who can speak normally, but those are rarer."

"My condolences", Palmon told Shua who just shrugged.

"Can we go now?" Naofumi urged and they went over to the other side one after another, until it was Naofumi's turn.

"You can go now", he told Sukamon and Chuumon. "Don't do anything that makes me want to kill you, got it?"

"Got it!" "Got it!" They quickly agreed and just as quickly vanished into the forest on their side.

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Repulsive Duo: Maybe they just Need a Hug].  
Completion Award: +1 000 EXP  
Increased reputation with Mimi and Palmon.

Bonus Award for  
[Do not let Mimi get hit once.]:  
+500 EXP.  
Increased reputation with Mimi.

Bonus Award for  
[Do not let Palmon get hit once.]:  
+500 EXP.  
Increased reputation with Palmon.}

Oh, right, that had still been open. In the end thanks to Naofumi that one had been easy to complete. Not that Sukamon and Chuumon had actually been dangerous. More disgusting thanks to them throwing their shit around.

Ji-Han watched as Naofumi came back with Palmon. Speaking of…

"Should we add the others to the party?" He asked the Hero of the Shield. "That way we can extend the voice chat, drops and EXP."

"Adding Mimi would just decrease the EXP you get with only miniscule gain for her and none for us", he explained. "Adding Palmon would give us more item drops but also reduce your EXP. You have to decide it if is worth it."

"We are unlikely to level up from small fries either way", Ji-Han noted. "And that way we won't miss out on rare items. Palmon, [Party Invite]."

"What are you… oh? What's this? World Salvation Party?"

"…I need to change that name… if you accept then enemies you defeat have a chance of dropping an item. You will also be able to see your status by saying 'Status Window', skills by saying 'Skills' and perks by saying 'Perks'. And we can talk to each other wherever we are. Though I really only want that because of the objects the Heartless leave behind."

"Sure", agreed Palmon.

{[Palmon] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

Good. Now going to the others…

* * *

"Is this a temple?" Ji-Han mused as he took a look upon the building in front of him. It was like a wall of five stone blocks, the three in the middle having an entrance-like hole in them. Left of those was a stairway leading to the upper levels. Which consisted of a second level with six entrance blocks in some distance, a third level with three entrance-blocks even further away and than a fourth with a single one, masoned directly into rock.

"Does it matter?" Naofumi countered Ji-Han's question and looked towards the loose rectangular stones lying around. "All that matters is that we have found the ruins."

"Yeah", agreed Mimi. "Let's hope that giant custard was telling the truth."

"Only one way to find out", Palmon pointed out and ran with Mimi into the ruins.

"Don't get too far ahead", Ji-Han called out. "New places have a higher chance of Heartless appearing."

But they were already inside and so he made sure to hurry up and follow them.

To his joy, there was actually another kid inside. They would have had a lot more difficulties finding him if Koushirou would have decided to wander around. But here he was:

[Chosen of Knowledge  
Lv3 Izumi, Koushirou]

Koushirou was a young and really short boy, barely reaching above Mimi's chin and even that only because his short brown-red hair was so spiky. Also large for his body were the thick eyebrows of the same color and his feet in the gray and purple shoes with a yellow lightning bolt on the sides. Other than those he also wore green socks, short yellow gloves, an orange shirt with white buttons and rolled-up sleeves, as well as olive shorts. The boy was currently sitting on the ground, his back towards them. The tipping noises as well as the cable made Ji-Han realize, he was doing something on a laptop.

Looking him over the shoulder was a bug called Tentomon.

[Partner of Knowledge  
Lv13 Tentomon]

Tentomon looked remotely like a ladybug with large green compound eyes and two backwards-directed antenna resembling kelp leaves. Only that the black dots on its back were not just dots but literal rocks-like spheres sticking out of its shell and the mandibles and six legs were supported with , robotic looking fibers. Also, only the last two of the legs themselves were legs with stone-like claws or toes. The middle legs were actually human hands with robotic fingers while the first two were huge and ended in single, just as large claws.

"Ah, Mimi-han", Tentomon greeted the girl, who responded with a happy "Tentomon!"

"You guys are safe", Palmon exclaimed. "I knew we would meet up eventually!"

"Oh, you guys won't belief what happened", Mimi spoke excitedly, "but… what is Koushirou-kun doing?"

"No idea", Tentomon responded, before noticing Ji-Han and his comrades. "Who are they?"

"Ah, these are people we met after we got separated", Mimi explained. "They are apparently on a mission to save the world!"

"Hello, Tentomon", Ji-Han greeted. "I am Han Ji-Han. These are Iwatani Naofumi and Shua."

"Smeargle", responded the Pokémon while Naofumi was ignoring the introduction and instead focusing on Koushirou.

"Is that guy really playing video games at a time like this?" He voiced in disbelief.

"He isn't really playing…" denied Mimi. "I think? I don't actually know a lot about computers. Hey, Koushirou-kun!"

"Oh, Mimi-san." The boy looked up from his laptop towards her.

"What are you doing right now", she asked curiously.

"If I analyze these characters, I may figure out what's happening to this island", he explained.

"These are the same characters from the ones in the factory…" Added Tentomon. "Where I evolved for the first time."

"So…" Wondered Mimi. "How long will I have to wait?"

"Please wait a bit, if I analyze this data, it'll end up helping you in the end as well, Mimi-san."

"Will figuring it out get us home?"

"That's what I am trying to figure out."

Mimi was skeptical.

"I don't know. Let's just look for everyone else", she told Koushirou.

"I am busy right now, so let's search for them later…" The boy responded before trailing off, redirecting his attention back to his computer.

"…What's up with his priorities?" Ji-Han exclaimed flabbergasted. Even if he wasn't playing video games, he was still completely ignoring his friends, the one who was there and the ones who were still separated from him after they got attacked by that guy called Devimon. Getting everyone back together should really be the most important thing. As in life and death important. Getting safety in numbers, as well as finding out if everyone was still alright, shouldn't that be the highest priority?!

Apparently Naofumi thought so as well, as he moved past Ji-Han with a "let me", transforming his shield into… he hadn't seen that one yet. It was made out of wood and was more like a rectangular block than an actual shield with a small cylindrical tube over the back of Naofumi's hand.

"[Seed Cannon]." Naofumi called out and some form of projectile shot out of the tube in the direction it was facing: Towards Koushirou's head.

With the THUD, the projectile impacted, making the boy's head tip forward.

"Ou", he exclaimed, his concentration broken. "Who…"

"If I were an enemy, you would now be dead", Naofumi declared as Koushirou turned to look behind and their eyes met. "Now stop wasting time and get going."

"I am not wasting time!" the boy refuted. "I am doing important research-" THUD! "Ou!"

Naofumi had shot another projectile at him, a Bullet Seed as Ji-Han could now tell.

"You can do your research when it's not bothering other people", the Hero of the Shield continued. "Like when you made sure all your friends are actually still alive at this point."

Koushirou just stared at him.

"…Who are you?"

Ah, it seemed like he had finally realized he had no idea who that person was.

"Iwatani Naofumi", the shield hero introduced himself. "And those are Han Ji-Han and Shua. Any other questions?!"

Koushirou stared at them for a moment dumbfounded, before he responded in a series of questions and musings:

"Humans? I thought we were the only ones! Or are they actually human-shaped Digimon? Their names don't end with 'mon'. But so does the name of the monster. A nickname?"

"We are two humans and one Pokémon", Naofumi interrupted his tangent with annoyance. "Anything else?"

"If you are humans, how did you get here?" Koushirou continued. "Did you get washed away like us? Or are you native? Can you read these-" THUD! "Ou!"

"I told you to ignore the research", Naofumi spoke irritated. "If you continue to waste my time, I'll charge you an annoyance fee."

"But I don't have any money-" THUD! "Ou!"

"Isn't that child abuse?" Mimi asked Ji-Han regarding Naofumi's harassing the boy, but the Gamer could only shrug.

"I don't think he cares", Ji-Han responded. In the first place… "[Observe]!"

{Name: Izumi, Koushirou  
Class: none  
Title: Chosen of Knowledge  
Level: Lv3 (77.12%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 10  
Status: Unaffected  
Elemental Resistances: Data (0.5)

HP: 160/200  
MP: 100/100  
STR: 5 VIT: 5 DEX: 7  
INT: 17 WIS: 12 LUK: 10}

Huh. So it did reduce his HP after all, if only 10 for each hit. That made him wonder how much HP the disciplinary measures of his teachers would have taken. Unfortunately he had been a good student in the four days after getting his power, so he had no way how to compare them. Still…

"…don't overdo it", he warned his comrade. "It would be bad if he got killed later because you got too enthusiastic here."

GROWL!

"Can we go now?!" Whined Mimi. "I am hungry!"

"Maybe we should stop for a short meal", Ji-Han conceded. "It's been some time since we had a meal, too."

"You have food?!" Exclaimed Mimi loudly into his ear, making the Gamer flinch. "Why did you never say anything?! I haven't had anything to eat in ages!"

"Calm down!" Ji-Han told her. "I've only really got some Buttered Toast prepared and we've got no tools to cook something else."

"I don't care", declared Mimi. "I am so hungry I would eat anything. Though I wouldn't say no to a pancake or hamburger."

Ji-Han chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry, but that's not on the table. [Inventory]."

He opened his inventory and took out some Buttered Toast, resulting in a cry of joy from the girl. Koushirou on the other hand, wasn't as enthusiastic.

"Then while you eat, I can…"

"You are going to eat, too", Naofumi interrupted him sternly. "And afterwards we'll instantly leave this place and look for your friends, got it?"

Naofumi left no room for arguments and thus Koushirou went over to Ji-Han to get himself some food. Followed shortly by Shua, after the Pokémon had went around the room to pick up the Bullet Seeds Naofumi had used up. Such a good boy. Meanwhile the Tentomon and Palmon had come towards him for food, too, making him thoughtful.

"Do you guys eat raw meat?" He asked them. "Shua here has no problem with that, even if cooked stuff tastes better for him. But since we only have so much of food fit for human consumption, it is better to keep that for humans."

"Then I'll go outside for photosynthesis", Palmon declared in a tone of voice that made it impossible to tell if it was disappointed or not.

"Then we should all go outside", interjected Naofumi as he took a bottle of water from Ji-Han. "It would be bad if you got attacked by Heartless while on your own."

"Heartless?" Inquired Koushirou, before quickly biting into his toast as Naofumi's gaze rested upon him again. Though this time the Hero of the Shield decided the question was justified, if annoying.

"I am not going to explain it again every time we meet another one of your friends, so I'll keep it short", he spoke. "They are cartoonish-looking creatures that attack people to increase their numbers. We are on a mission to stop them."

"They sound bad", noted Mimi. "Seconds!"

Ji-Han pulled out another Buttered Toast, as well as some raw Oumukade Meat for Shua.

"I would like some of that, too", Tentomon piped up and Ji-Han delivered. Meanwhile Koushirou had finished eating his toast and was now staring confused at Ji-Han.

"Where do you even get the food from?" He asked. "I don't see any bags with you."

"I've got a hammer-space inventory", Ji-Han answered as he took out another Buttered Toast for Koushirou and Oumukade Flesh for Shua. "Don't ask me how it works."

"Can I get some water, too?" Palmon interrupted and Ji-Han gave it some.

"This is so convenient", exclaimed Mimi. "Seconds." Huh, she was pretty fast. But as he gave her another piece of toast, an all too familiar noise reached his ear, followed by dark portals around them.

"Heartless!" Ji-Han shouted and summoned his Keyblade at the same time that Naofumi positioned himself in front of the two children. "Get ready to fight!" Wait. Where those three Red Nocturnes?

Of the five Heartless that appeared, three were indeed Red Nocturnes, having the classical Black Magician in red-look. The other two were levitating Heartless shaped like gears with yellow orbs as eyes on top of a copper foundation, with the Heartless-symbol in the center. And while the teeth on the outside moved, the eyes and emblem stayed stationary. And an [Observe] revealed:

{Turnaround Lv25  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 260/260  
MP: 150/150  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Metal  
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.75), Metal (0.5), Darkness (0.5)  
A Heartless in the shape of a gear. It attacks only  
by moving its body, but has a high mobility to make up for it.  
STR: 40 VIT: 46 DEX: 42  
INT: 29 WIS: 28 LUK: 35}

"The gears are called Turnaround and have physical stats in the 40s", Ji-Han quickly relayed the important information. "They also resist Fight and Metal. As for the Red Nocturnes… they are around level 20." So the same level as the ones in the first round of the tournament. "They use Fire and are resistant to Fire and Lightning." The latter part wasn't anything new for Naofumi and Shua, but he had still added it because of the Digimon. Especially Palmon as a plant might be weak to them.

"Then I'll take on the gears", declared Tentomon. "[Super Shocker]!"

So the bug uses lightning. But it only took 1 HP.

"That's not working", he told the Digimon as he ran towards a Red Nocturne. "Stay back for now! [High Jump]!" Ji-Han jumped into the air and stroke at the Heartless, eliminating it in the process {+416 EXP}. Damn, his high STR really showed itself against enemies he had already fought before.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Activated Naofumi, blocking a tackling attack from one of the gears that would have otherwise hit the Gamer.

"Thanks", spoke Ji-Han as he landed and instantly used [Dodge Roll] to escape from a fireball shot by the third Red Nocturne. The second had already been destroyed by one of Shua's Power Strikes. {+416 EXP} That left one Red Nocturne and the two Turnarounds.

"Shua, deal with the Nocturne but conserve your MP", Ji-Han shouted out commands. "Naofumi, Tentomon, Palmon, keep the aggro of one of the Turnarounds. I'll deal with that one after I've finished with this one."

Currently he was the only one of them with the attack power necessary to harm the Heartless with high VIT. But taking care of two new enemies at once would be too dangerous. Luckily they had already reduced the numbers enough that they could split up the enemies. And so Ji-Han stood in front of one Turnaround, observing what it would do. According to the Observe it would only attack close-range but had a high mobility to make up for that. Which meant that it was probably better to wait for it to commit to an attack as otherwise it might just dance around his attack and strike him from behind instead.

Soon enough the Turnaround moved. However, the movement wasn't linear but circular. Lightning-fast it went to the left side and an in an arc and Ji-Han was just barely able to [Dodge Roll] out of the way before it hit his left shoulder. Unfortunately, the gear continued its circle until it got back to its starting place, where Ji-Han had accidentally dodged to. {-54}

Pain went through his right shoulder as Ji-Han was flung away. But staying down would be dangerous and so he pushed through the pain and stood up, his eyes once again focused on his enemy. The gear swung back and forth idly, seemingly in no hurry to attack again. But Ji-Han kept on the defensive. He still didn't know what else the Turnaround could do. And after a while the Heartless went back on the offensive, shooting towards him.

"[Guard]!" But since it was only using a straight line, Ji-Han could easily block the incoming enemy and knock him back. Now Ji-Han went to attack, striking at the gear with a flurry of blows. Each attack took away over 50 HP, reducing its life fast. But Ji-Han got too greedy and at the fifth hit, the Turnaround got over its shock and spun rapidly around its axis, enlarging its outer ring in the process. The unprepared Ji-Han not only got his attack blocked, but also hit directly in the chest and flung backwards. {-63}

Damn! That guy had only 24 HP left!

Ji-Han stood up again quickly and jumped towards the enemy, ending it with his next strike. Meanwhile Shua had also finished with the Red Nocturne, earning them {+433 EXP} und {+416 EXP} respectively. That left them with one last Turnaround who was currently kept busy by Naofumi, Tentomon and Palmon. Though when the latter tried to use its [Poison Ivy] on it, it spun around and entangled the vines. Which meant that since unlike Tentomon's attack, the vines were a physical part of Palmon's body, the Digimon was dragged with them.

"Palmon!" Mimi cried out in panic as the plant was first drawn towards the Heartless and then spun around it like a toy. When the Turnaround finally stopped, the Digimon was falling to the ground dizzily, the vines retracting.

But while the Heartless was distracted by the plant, Ji-Han used the opportunity to jump at it and attack. Two hits he got in, before the Heartless turned its attention towards him. But as its HP had been reduced to 59, Ji-Han attacked once more, hoping to finish it off. Unfortunately, that had not been enough: {HP: 1/259}.

Ji-Han cursed as the Heartless started to spin and stumbled back in a hurry, hoping to get out of range in time.

"Super Shocker!" Luckily he was not alone and while Tentomon could not damage the monster by much, in this case the enemy was so low on health that a single attack was all it took, making it evaporate. Though they didn't get any EXP thanks to the fact that Tentomon wasn't one of their party members yet.

"Good work, everybody", he told them. "Now, Tentomon, [Party Invite]."

"What is this?" Wondered Tentomon.

"That makes it so that Heartless you defeat have a chance of dropping stuff", explained Ji-Han and Tentomon accepted in a "why not"-kind of manner.

{[Tentomon] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

"Smeargle, smear", Shua then said, moving his tail to and away from his mouth.

"You want more to eat?" Ji-Han guessed and Shua nodded, so Ji-Han gave him another piece of Oumukade Meat.

"Me, too!" Mimi called out and Tentomon also wanted more. Koushirou also got a second Buttered Toast.

"Can I have a bit of that water?" Palmon also asked and Ji-Han gave it a bottle, which it soon shared with the others. But that wasn't enough so he took out a second bottle.

"We'll have to find a fresh water source, soon", mused Ji-Han as he looked at the {9} near the picture of the water bottle in his inventory. And maybe he should cook some more. Even if it wasn't always tasty, if he combined his successful attempts with his failures, they should be edible. But since he had no portable kitchen, that plan had to be put on hold for now.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Mimi inquired curiously. "I haven't seen you eat anything at all."

"Oh, I don't need to eat", he explained. "It's part of me being a video game character."

"What do you mean with video game character?" Koushirou asked. "Are you saying you aren't real?"

"No", refuted Ji-Han, "it just means that my abilities resemble those you generally find on a video game character."

"I have never heard of a human with abilities like that", Koushirou continued. "Did you get them here on File Island?"

Ji-Han hesitated, wondering how much he should tell them. Zelretch had implemented the transformation-feature to avoid overwhelming people with the concept of other worlds. But considering how big his abilities differed from those of a normal human, it would be hard to keep that a secret without spinning some complicated lies. And they've already seen the Heartless. He being from another world shouldn't be that surprising.

"I've got them from my homeworld before it got destroyed by the Heartless", he thus explained.

"Homeworld?" Repeated Mimi. "You are an alien?!"

Ji-Han chuckled.

"Something like that", he confirmed.

"Oh, does that mean you have an UFO?" She continued enthusiastically and he nodded again.

"I do have a spaceship. But not everyone needs one. The Heartless, for example, can travel between worlds without one."

"I want to see it", Mimi begged but Naofumi stopped the conversation there.

"If you are finished with eating, then let's not waste any more time and go look for the others", he decided. "We don't have time to waste."

Begrudgingly the children dropped the matter and made to pack their things – which was really just giving Ji-Han the empty water bottles and Koushirou going back to get his laptop.

"Heartless!" Naofumi suddenly called out, stopping the young boy by grabbing him on his shoulder. Everyone look around alarmed, yet they couldn't see anything. But Ji-Han was sure that Naofumi wouldn't say something like that without a reason.

"Where are they?" He thus asked. "Did they turn invisible?"

"Something tripped my alarm", the Hero of the Shield explained. "An enemy appeared within a radius of 20 meters. But I can't tell where."

Ji-Han looked around the place. 20 meters… that should still be within his line of sight, before the trees. And since he couldn't see anything there that meant that they either actually were invisible or…

He turned around to the ruins.

"Inside?" He voiced and not a moment too early as a horse jumped through the entrance, landing in the middle of the plaza and turned around to face them.

Which was when Ji-Han realized that it wasn't a horse, but a centaur that was standing in front of them. Its body was colored orange with solid purple plates added to the front of its body, on its flank and at the sides of its knees, or rather a bit lower than the knees. It wore a helmet resembling those of Greek warriors just completely made out of gray metal and completely closed off, except for a T-shaped hole in the front. Through this hole they could see one single glowing red eye in the center. Other than that it also had a metal pipes sticking out of its back, a metal shoulder guard on its left shoulder and an anklet with a cut-off chain on its left wrist. And the hands as well as half of the lower arm were also of a sickly grey color, with the right arm having some form of power cords partly sticking out of it.

[Guardian of the Temple  
Lv51 Centarumon]

"…Kill… the intruders."

Yeah, sounded like an enemy alright.

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The Sagittarius

Once an honorable guard, Centarumon has turned into a mockery of its former self, killing everyone that comes close.

Protect the DigiDestined without killing Centarumon.

Bonus Objective:  
Free Centarumon from the influence of the Black Gear.

Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Completion Failure: +500 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}

"Be careful", Ji-Han called out as he accepted the mission. That guy's mind-controlled. Don't kill it!"

"Is it a black gear?" Asked Koushirou. "If we destroy the black gear, the Digimon returns to normal!"

"It is", confirmed Ji-Han, "though I can't see it right now…"

"If I had my computer I could easily scan for it", the boy told him, making Ji-Han formulate a plan inside his head.

"Okay", he decided. "Koushirou and Shua, you go get the laptop. We'll cover you!"

The Centarumon, however, wouldn't let them do as they pleased without a fight. Metal slabs grew out of its right hand, forming the shape of a cannon with gaps, which it pointed towards them while light gathered inside it.

"[Solar Beam]!" The Digimon activated and a beam of light shot towards them.

"[Air Strike Shield]", Naofumi countered as he rushed in front of the party, to protect them after the aforementioned shield vanished. Only for the shield to get destroyed in an instant. The surprised Naofumi had just enough time to raise his actual shield and then the beam hit him and pushed him backwards into the group of party members, throwing them down like bowling pins. Yet Naofumi's journey did not stop until he hit something that used to be a wall and the beam exploded.

"Naofumi-Hyung!" Ji-Han called out as the resulting smoke took away his view of his party member. But he had no time to worry about others, as the Digimon started to charge his cannon for a second time.

Ji-Han cursed and hurried to pick himself up.

"Everybody, scatter!" He shouted as he moved towards the enemy. He wasn't fast enough to prevent it from firing again, so he used [Guard] to block the attack.

Only for the attack to shoot past him, at a defenseless Mimi, who only got saved in time by Palmon grabbing her with a [Poison Ivy]. That was when both Palmon and Tentomon started to glow and the Digimons started to speak:

"Palmon evolves to…" "Tentomon evolves to…"

And then they transformed instantly into larger, bulkier figures.

"…Togemon!" "…Kabuterimon!"

[Partner of Sincerity  
Lv42 Togemon]

[Partner of Knowledge  
Lv43 Kabuterimon]

…That was some seriously convenient timing for an evolution. They really needed these levels to fight against the likes of Centarumon. They were still not at the exact level, but this was still way better than before. As for the Digimon themselves…

Togemon looked like a cactus with two legs with round feet, two arms ending in boxing gloves and some kind of orange hair on top that resembled the beginning of a single blossom. As mouth and eyes it had literally holes carved into its body that only showed a darkness behind them.

Kabuterimon had completely changed its color scheme from red to blue. It was also standing more upright than in its posture and was a lot more menacing-looking in general. Its legs looked like bird claws and its four arms like blue skeletal structures, the four wings were long and had a blue spine and over its head, hiding its eyes completely, it wore something resembling a helmet with a giant sharp horn. The only part that was visible was still its mouth, which was made up out of four individual mouth parts each having three white sharp teeth, the lower jaw at the bottom, the upper jaw fused to the helmet and two fleshy structures to its sides.

"Let's do this!" Kabuterimon spoke and… hugged himself? No, it was more like he put his four arms with closed fists in front of his upper body to guard it. But that was only the beginning. Now in front of his mouth a sphere of electricity appeared. It had a white core, a bluish transparent mantle and pinkish lightning arching over its outside.

"[Mega Blaster]!" The beetle activated and the sphere of electricity shot forward.

"[Chikuchiku Bang Bang]!" At the same time Togemon had crossed its arms and then brought them backwards, pushing out its chest, flinging a bunch of needles towards the same target: Centarumon.

The Digimon didn't even have time to react as it got hit by the two attacks, only able to scream in pain. And then a black circular object was flying out of its back, dispersing after a while.

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The Sagittarius].  
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award for  
[Free Centarumon from the influence of the Black Gear.]:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.}

That was it?! That had been a lot easier than expected. Even with the evolving of the Digimons, he hadn't expected it to be over in literally one shot. Speaking of the MVPs of this battle, to Ji-Han's surprise the evolution wasn't permanent and the Digimon transferred back to their previous state. So for Digimon an "Evolution" was just a super-powered mode.

"Could you always do that?" Naofumi, who had finally managed to pick himself up, asked Palmon.

"Yes", answered Palmon, "but it takes a lot of energy so we don't do it if it isn't necessary."

"So you need to eat more then?" Ji-Han asked and Tentomon nodded.

"But we're okay for now."

"…What… have I been doing here?" That was Centarumon

"Looks like he's back to normal!" Mimi declared happily, redirecting its attention towards him.

"That thing you are holding…" Centarumon focus never left Mimi's bag as he picked himself up. "There is something I want to show you. Come this way." With that he made his way back into the ruins, without waiting for them.

"Is he really expecting us to follow him just like that?" Asked Naofumi bewildered and Ji-Han shrugged.

"We got rid of the brainwashing, so things should be good right now", he reasoned. "Though I wonder what is so special about that bag…"

"I think he's more focused on device on it", noted Koushirou, making the Gamer look again.

"What is that?" He asked confused. The closest thing he could compare it to was… a watch, maybe? It was of white color, the size of a fist and had a shape of a rectangle whose edges had been pushed in. And in the centre was a square screen that was currently shut off inside a circle. It had one round button of blue color left to the screen and two oval ones of the same color to its right. Lastly, on the upper left of the side was something that resembled a retracted antenna.

"We still don't know what this is", Koushirou explained. "But maybe Centarumon does."

"I don't think we'll lose anything if we follow him", Ji-Han declared.

"It's your call", Naofumi noted and with that they followed Centarumon into the ruins. The Digimon had waited for them in the entrance room and was now guiding them along pathways, until they reached a certain room. The room itself wasn't that big and it was made even smaller that thanks to the fact that halfway there was a staircase in between two short walls, leading up to a higher area with a stone relief of the same thing that Mimi had hanging from her bag.

"This is the holy device, the 'Digivice'", explained Centarumon. "I have been protecting these ruins."

"The holy device…" Repeated Koushirou in awe, taking out his own digivice.

"…the Digivice?" Now Mimi spoke up in a question and Centarumon continued:

"It brings light to this world and drives out the darkness. That is the holy Digivice of legend."

"That sounds like something one could use to describe the Keyblade", Ji-Han noted, to which Naofumi had to add, that many holy objects given to heroes had that description.

"I don't really understand", voiced Mimi, "but you are saying it's a good thing to have, right?"

"It means you are some kind of Chosen Ones", Ji-Han told them.

"Chosen One?" Repeated Mimi aghast. "For what? Saving the world?"

"That's the most common reason", agreed Naofumi.

"Is that the reason why Devimon attacked us?" Wondered Koushirou and Ji-Han nodded.

"Considering that the Digivice is supposed to repel the darkness and the enemy is called 'Devimon', I think that is likely."

"That's so stupid", declared Mimi. "I don't know anything about saving the world! I just want to go home!"

"Unfortunately the Chosen Ones never get to choose", the Hero of the Shield spoke bitterly. "So you better… an enemy!" Naofumi trailed off in the middle of his sentence as his internal alarm system got triggered. "Centarumon, are there any more Digimon within the ruins?"

"No, I should be the only one."

"A Heartless then? But why did it not appear in this room?" With weapon drawn, Ji-Han looked anxiously towards the only entrance.

"It could be someone else getting attacked by Heartless", reasoned Naofumi, which made Ji-Han curse.

"Then we can't really wait here for it", he declared but the decision was taken from them, as a big lion man walked into the room. The muscular humanoid was naked except for his black trousers, fist cuffs around his left knuckles, three belts tied around his left wrist, as well as a necklace made up out of red stones hidden mostly by his impressive yellow mane. Furthermore he had the blue sheath of a short sword strapped lengthwise at his girdle. Another interesting feature where his ears which were not round like usual for a lion but pointy like that of a donkey or horse, which the left having a golden piercing.

[King of Beasts  
Lv? Leomon]

"Kill… the children!" He chanted like in a daze, proving himself to be the enemy.

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The King of Beasts

Once a defender of justice, Leomon has been turned into Devimon's puppet to kill the chosen children.

Protect the DigiDestined without killing Leomon.

Bonus Objective:  
Free Leomon from the influence of the Black Gear.

Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Completion Failure: +500 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}

"Okay", said Ji-Han as he accepted the quest. "Here we go again! He's stronger than Centarumon, so you better evolve from the start!"

"Wait", interrupted Koushirou. "It 'brings light to this world and drives out the darkness'… Mimi, the Digivice!"

The boy took out the Digivice and held it towards Leomon. Mimi was first confused, but as Koushirou's Digivice started to glow and the glow seemed to bring Leomon physical pain, she copied him. Now with double the pain, the Digimon had decided to call it quits and run away. That was it.

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The King of Beasts].  
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.}

Wow, that was some easy EXP. It had been even easier than with Centarumon. That light really drove away the darkness, like they said.

"Do you think this works against Heartless, too?" Ji-Han asked Naofumi jokingly, only for his expression to become somber again as he remembered another person capable of creating such blinding light.

"Heartless are creatures of darkness, so it is possible", answered the Hero of the Shield to his earlier question. "But so far it looks like it can only drive the affected away."

"It still would be useful against the Bug Bites", Ji-Han declared. He really didn't want to fight those until he got stronger. Those guys were way too dangerous for his current level.

"We can try it out the next time we meet Heartless", Naofumi told him. "For now, if there isn't anything else, we should get back to our objective and meet up with the other children. If Devimon hadn't send his goons after them before, he'll do so now that he failed here."

"Really?!" Shouted Mimi. "Then we have to hurry and get to them!"

"Centarumon", Ji-Han addressed the Digimon. "Have you seen any other humans besides us?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"I haven't seen anyone else when I got send to this part of the island", Koushirou reported. "I think we'll have to travel to the other parts to find them."

"We had to travel over the ocean to get here, too", remembered Mimi. "But I don't think Palmon will be able to reach all of them."

"Can't Kabuterimon fly us there?" Ji-Han inquired and Koushirou pondered about that.

"Maybe if it was just me, Mimi and Palmon", he surmised. "Maybe Shua, too. But I don't think all of us will be able to fit on top of him. But I do actually have an idea! Please follow me!"

With some help from Centarumon, Koushirou lead them to the entrance room, where they had first seen him. There was a large black gear stuck two-thirds into the ground that Ji-Han had ignored so far.

"I believe this makes the islands separate from each other", he explained. "I believe that if we can reverse the rotation of the gear, we should be able to reverse the flow of the island."

"Any idea how to do that?" Inquired Ji-Han, making Koushirou hesitate.

"I belief the inscriptions on the wall would tell us how to do that", he then revealed. "But I can't read them yet…"

"Don't bother", interrupted Naofumi. "We don't even know for sure if there is anything like that written there. We'll just have Ji-Han strike at it and if that doesn't work, go for our spaceship."

"I want to see the spaceship", Mimi instantly proclaimed while Koushirou frowned.

"But just hitting something doesn't make it work… generally."

"Don't worry", Ji-Han told him. "I've got a Keyblade. I get doors to open and close by knocking on them with it. We've got a better chance than anyone else trying the physical approach."

With that he moved to the gear and knocked on it. And lo and behold, the gear stopped turning, before turning in the other direction.

"I can't belief that worked", Koushirou exclaimed aghast and Ji-Han shrugged.

"It's the Keyblade, after all", he said as if it explained everything, which, in his defense, to him at last did.

Then all their attention was taken by a card that came flying out of the gap between gear and ground, fluttering from side to side until it rested on the ground in front of the gear. Curiously, Ji-Han went over to it and picked it up.

It was a bit longer than the usual playing cards he knew and made up out of different shades of brown. There was a dark brown edge with nearly white ornaments in the shape of triangles at the edges and the inside was made up out of a brown lighter than the edge but darker than the corners with symbols and scribbles in a brown between the corners and the background, most prominent a David star with a circle inside, that once again contained something, in this case something that resembled an ornamented flower. Outside of the David star were multiple rings where only the parts above and below the David star fit on the card.

Ji-Han turned the card around and got surprised. The other side had the same kind of edge and background than the first, but there was a black taint on it, like someone had dropped a bunch of black paint into the center and watched as it went irregularly into all directions, covering the card. Only that there was nothing to scratch off from it. Just what was this card?

"[Observe]!"

{[Nameless Class Card: Nameless Sword - Rank: Secret]  
Base-Value: 200 000 Munny  
A card created to capture part of the powers of a Heroic Spirit  
but failed to connect to a specific Heroic Spirit,  
only managing to imprint the idea of "sword".  
It breaks apart after using it once.}

"Heroic Spirit?" Exclaimed Ji-Han out loud. "Just what is that supposed to be?"

"Can I see that?" Asked Naofumi and Ji-Han handed the card over to him. "Holy Grail War, the card game? Who the heck came up with that idea?!"

"Holy Grail War?" Repeated Ji-Han confused and Naofumi sighed.

"There is this anime I've watched", he explained. "In that magicians summoned heroes from the past, so-called Heroic Spirits, to fight for the Holy Grail to have their wish granted. I never would thought there would be real cards of that. Even if this one seems to be a failure."

"That's a pity", mused Ji-Han. "I would have liked to call forth a hero from the past." And it certainly didn't help that the item was one-time-use only.

"Why don't you try to fix it the way you fixed the island?" Koushirou inquired but Naofumi was skeptical.

"Can you fix something that has never worked in the first place?" He asked and Ji-Han shrugged.

"It says in the description that it 'failed to connect'. So I should be able to open a connection with the Keyblade."

"Do what you want", Naofumi told him. "But if this ends up dragging us into a Holy Grail War, I am leaving the party."

"How would that happen?" Ji-Han asked. "There is only a card and no Holy Grail around, right?"

Naofumi snorted.

"You don't have much experience with your Keyblade, right? Who knows what will happen?"

"Good point", conceded Ji-Han. "Let's wait until we are in a safe spot before we do that. For now we'll focus on finding the other guys. Let's go!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And here is the first other world: Digimon Adventure. This world was chosen for a multitude of reasons. It was a franchise with travels into another world, chosen ones and a battle between light and dark, just like Kingdom Hearts. Only that the Digimon are a lot stronger than Ji-Han at this point, making him more of a nuisance than a threat against the locals. In fact, being able to close the Keyhole is literally the only reason this world has decided to call for him. But he still has to prove his character before it dares to bare the keyhole to him. So it's quite literally a trial run, where his presence doesn't affect big things. (Unless you count not having Sukamon and Chuumon being brainwashed into being good guys.)

Lastly, we've got the Nameless Class Cards. With the help of the Keyblade they would be able to connect to a specific person in the Throne of Heroes, taking the role of the summon gems from Kingdom Hearts, able to summon this person for a specific action. The summon cards can be separated into two categories: combat and utility. The combat ones just give Ji-Han another way to damage enemies or prevent damage. The utility ones are the more interesting ones as their ability to be useful outside of combat means that they also effect the plot. I actually had to scratch out one card from my list because it would have been too useful, solving more problems than were good for the story.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	11. Chapter 10: Night on Bald Mountain

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your review, **merendinoemiliano**.

Chapter 10: Night on Bald Mountain

"Ah, I can see it!" Shouted Tentomon as he looked over the sea.

So they were finally reaching it. Though, to be honest, that had actually been faster than he expected. Maybe it was because of the many Heartless they had to fight on the way to the edge of the island. Which, by the way, did run away from the light of the Digivice. Unfortunately, that was all that the light did. Which meant that soon after stopping with the light, the Heartless came back. Sometimes with the next group. So it was better to deal with the Heartless as they came. But thanks to their many combat-capable party members, this wasn't that difficult anymore. They didn't even need to evolve the Digimon so far, even when a Bug Bite showed up.

Nevertheless, now the piece of land finally joined together with the others, downright fusing so that no trace of the separation remained. That meant that they could finally go and look for the others.

"Wait", exclaimed Naofumi suddenly and even though he hadn't shouted, it still claimed everyone's attention.

"What it is?" Ji-Han was the first to ask what they all thought.

"We only managed to restore the islands by hitting the black gears with the Keyblade", he explained. "But I doubt we are lucky enough that there exists only one gear for all parts of the island. So, if the other brats are on any of those parts, we won't be able to reach them from here without swimming or flying."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Asked Mimi. "Kabuterimon cannot carry all of us."

"Are we going to split up, after all?" Palmon added, to which Naofumi shook his head.

"That would make this whole trying to keep you save pointless", he refuted. "No, we'll have to use the teleporters. And hope that there is no malevolent entity on his world that can detect our scans."

"Teleporters?" Repeated Mimi, before her eyes were suddenly filled with gleeful anticipation. "Does that mean we get to see the spaceship?!"

"We can?" Interjected Koushirou just as eagerly. Together they closed in on the shield hero as if he had just promised them new toys, stars in their eyes.

"Cut it out", Naofumi admonished them. "We aren't going to the spaceship for fun. We are using the teleporters to get to your friends who might die if we take too long. Got it?!"

"…yes", the two carved in under his stern gaze and he turned to face Ji-Han, stretching out his hand.

"Okay, everybody", he spoke as he took the hand and gave Shua the other. "Make sure to keep physical contact. You don't want to be left behind on your own! Speaking off… we don't happen to have a team member good at stealth?"

"No", responded Mimi curious. "Why do you ask?"

Ji-Han made to answer but couldn't. Instead Shua made suddenly a distressed noise. When he looked towards the Pokémon, he noticed how it was tapping his hand rapidly.

"Oh, sorry", apologized Ji-Han as he loosened the grip he had unconsciously tightened.

"To answer your question", Naofumi told Mimi in Ji-Han's stead. "Our last party member was so good at stealth that we forgot to take her with us. Short: She's now dead."

Koushirou gasped and Mimi just stared at the shield hero, not being able to decide whether he joked or not.

"L-let's just go", Ji-Han declared, cursing himself internally for the cracking in his voice. Now really wasn't the time for a mental breakdown. But it was so hard. Thinking about her made him sad, yet trying to push the memories of her away made him feel even worse. That was how she died, after all.

"Oi, we're ready", Naofumi pulled him out of the depressing thoughts. Which he was thankful for. He still felt guilty, but he really had to focus on the now, focusing on saving the other kids.

"[Beam me up!]"

* * *

"This is spooky", was Mimi's first comment as she looked around the teleportation chamber, to which Naofumi only responded with:

"It was like this when we got it. Now stop getting distracted, we've got work to do!"

Unfortunately, since they were kids, this reminder only really worked until they got to the bridge. There Mimi and Koushirou's eyes went wide and they instantly hurried down the small flight of stairs to look at the windows and the computer consoles, respectively.

"Wow, so this is space", mused Mimi as she looked at the planet surrounded by the empty void of space with the occasional stars in sight.

"Don't touch that!" Naofumi meanwhile reprimanded Koushirou, who had wanted to tip on one of the keyboards. Actually…

"…I'll need that", Ji-Han told the boy and sat down. Some keystrokes later and the world was scanned and the teleportation destination highlighted. Though he still had to rotate the picture and zoom in before he could get to File Island and the {Auto-Safe #1} and {Auto-Safe #2}.

"Ohhhhhhh", voiced Mimi at the display, but she was ignored. There were quite a lot of separated parts of File Island that Ji-Han had to look through to get a picture of whether or not there was anyone there. And it certainly didn't help that the parts didn't even had the decency to stay put.

"Oh, that's the lake where we fought Seadramon", noted Tentomon and Naofumi told Ji-Han to set up a teleportation point {Lake} so they could go there later to refill the water. But while they found quite a lot of Digimon and even a trolley car, there were no sign of any humans. The same with a telephone poles filled desert region with a so-called Pyocomon Village next to a lake with a boat. Where apparently the kids had fought Meramon. In fact, they found quite a lot of locations that the kids had visited previously. And in nearly all of them they had ended up fighting against other Digimon, sometimes with Black Gears, sometimes without. It seemed as if they had hardly managed to go anywhere without a fight breaking out.

"Excuse me", Koushirou suddenly interrupted his musings. "But I think that island is now closer to the center than it was before…"

What?!

Ji-Han moved the screen to take a look at that particular place and soon it became clear that the boy was right: The piece of the island was not moving away from the center, but towards it.

"Somebody else managed to reverse the course of that part?" Mused Naofumi. "Was it one of the brats?"

"I thought one would need a Keyblade for that?" Mimi pointed out but the Hero of the Shield shook his head.

"Devimon was able to split the islands and I don't think he has a Keyblade", reasoned Naofumi. "It's possible that others managed to find the original way to affect the island parts, too. Ji-Han, can you check if there is anyone on that island?"

Ji-Han did, but the only thing of interest was an abandoned church on top of a small hill with a fault in the earth, showing a row of black gears, but no sign of any human or Digimon.

"Maybe they already went to another island?" Suggested Mimi, followed by Naofumi's:

"Then let us look at the center."

Ji-Han followed the directions and halfway between the two landmasses…

"Hey, that's Birdramon and Sora", Mimi exclaimed excited.

"And below that are Joe-han and Ikkakumon", added Tentomon pleased.

[Chosen of Love  
Lv2 Takenouchi, Sora]

[Partner of Love  
Lv43 Birdramon]

[Chosen of Reliability  
Lv3 Kido, Joe]

[Partner of Reliability  
Lv42 Ikkakumon]

Huh, so he could see people's names even while looking at them through cameras.

Sora was a young girl whose most striking feature was a blue round helmet with two strands hanging on its sides, inside of being used to fester the helmet to the head. On its backside and the center of the front peaked orange strands of hair out from under it. Ji-Han couldn't see her face from this angle so he could only observe her yellow sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and red gloves. Her Digimon was pretty much what it sounded like, a giant bird of prey with orange feathers in the image of flames, its tail and two long backwards head-feathers literally being made out of fire. Though instead of a sharp beak like an eagle or so like one would expect from a dangerous bird, its beak was more round like a duck. However, it did have some teeth on the outside of its beak, which were so few and irregular that it gave Birdramon a wild and dangerous look, more like a flying dinosaur than a domestic animal.

Joe and Ikkakumon were pretty unassuming compared to them. The boy had short blue hair and a yellow shirt with short bluish-gray sleeves and brownish-gray shorts, carrying a first aid bag while Ikkakumon was literally an oversized walrus with a horn and fluffy white fur.

"Try to find out, where they will most likely be making landfall", Naofumi interrupted Ji-Han's observations. "We won't be able to reach them while they are still at sea."

"We can't?" Wondered Mimi and Ji-Han shook his head.

"Even assuming I can set teleport points over water", he responded. "None of us is aquatic. Maybe if I can put the teleport point in the air we could send in Tentomon, but we still need me to teleport into the ship, no matter what."

"And I need Koushirou-han to evolve", mused Tentomon.

In light of all this, Ji-Han zoomed out, before zooming in on the coast of the center island.

"I think the ice island also got closer to the center", mentioned Koushirou and so Ji-Han investigated that one, after setting the teleportation point.

"There are the black gears", Mimi pointed towards a snowy cliff.

"Since there are no people there, that means they moved towards the center already", reasoned Naofumi and Ji-Han quickly moved the screen to find them. But there were none. At sea at last.

"Did they already made it to the center?" Wondered Ji-Han as he tipped on the keyboard to skim the landscape.

Ah, there they were, in some kind of oversized playground. And how many people and Digimon there were.

[Chosen of Courage  
Lv3 Yagami, Taichi]

[Partner of Courage  
Lv43 Greymon]

[Chosen of Friendship  
Lv3 Ishida, Yamato]

[Partner of Friendship  
Lv43 Garurumon]

[Chosen of Hope  
Lv1 Takaishi, Takeru]

[Partner of Hope  
Lv12 Patamon]

Taichi had spiky brown hair and wore a distinctive pair of flight goggles on his forehead. He wore a blue t-shirt with orange stars on the sleeves, brown shorts, as well as white gloves and sneakers. His partner, Greymon, was a large orange dinosaur of the bipedal carnivorous kind with blue stripes on some parts of its body and a brown plate on top of its head adding three horns, one at the front of its jaw and two going to the side and up located behind his red eyes.

Next up was Yamato who also had spiky hair like Taichi, just in blond. He wore a green sleeveless shirt, blue jeans, brown shoes and gloves. His partner, Garurumon, was a white and blue wolf with a long curling tail, a mane of feathers and triplets of feathers on top of the top of each leg.

Then there was Takeru, the youngest of the humans, a small kid wearing a green hat with a blue gem at the center of the front, a green sweater with a pocket for the arms at the front, brown shorts and white and green shoes. His partner was the only one who hadn't evolved, a small Guinea pig with a white lower half and an orange upper one which included to bat-like wings on the back of its head.

With Joe and Sora at sea and Mimi and Koushirou on board, that made all seven Chosen Ones. Unfortunately the three kids and their partners were not the only things in the playground. Ji-Han didn't even took more than a glance at the green hunchback-ogre with a bone club called [Ogremon] standing opposed to Greymon, as he was too occupied by the fact that there was freaking Leomon in front of Garurumon down there.

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

The Origin of Life: Primary Town under Siege

To get to the DigiDestined, Devimon's forces attack Primary Town, the place where Digimon are reborn as eggs.

Protect Primary Town, its inhabitants and all DigiDestined from Ogremon and the manipulated Leomon.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Do not kill Leomon.  
2: Do not kill Ogremon.  
3: Free Leomon from Devimon's influence.

Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award:  
1: +500 EXP to you and every party member.  
2: +500 EXP to you and every party member.  
3: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Completion Failure: +500 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}

Oh, shit!

"Everybody to the teleporters!" Ji-Han called out as he accepted the quest and set the teleportation point. "Two in one!"

The kids were painfully slow at getting up the little flight of stairs. Ji-Han activated [High Jump], but the boost it gave was not big enough to allow him to just jump up, even with the level up that he had gotten from fighting all the Red Nocturnes. So he had to wait before he could get to his captain seat to activate the teleporters, chose the {Temp Save} and activate it. And even then, he first got a warning message asking him if he was sure because the point had people near it. As fast as he could he pressed {YES} and shouted:

"Good to go!"

"[Beam me down]!" Naofumi and Shua were the first to go down, unsurprisingly considering only they knew how to do it. Luckily the kids were observant enough to copy Naofumi, making them teleport out of the ship even before Ji-Han had reached the free teleporter.

"[Beam me down]!" And then it was his turn. The sudden appearance of new people confused both allies and enemies.

"[Shield Prison]!" A confusion that Naofumi was quick to capitalize on, as he encased the surprised Ogremon in a sphere of steel while Shua attacked Leomon, who was for some reason darker and bigger than he remembered, with a ball of… Fire? Did he copy it from a Red Nocturne? When was that?!

Yet, regardless of when the Smeargle had managed to get that attack, Leomon didn't even react towards it, showing off his Lv so high Ji-Han couldn't even see it.

"[Fist of the Beast King]!" And that was Leomon countering with his own attack, some sort of spectralized lion head.

"Watch out!" Shouted Ji-Han but it wasn't the Pokémon that was targeted. No, the attack hit Garurumon and instantly threw him backwards into a cliff hard enough to make rocks fall on top of him from above.

Fear captured Ji-Han's heart. If that attack was enough to one-shot the level 43 Garurumon, what would that mean for the level 7 Shua?!

"Get out of there!" He urged his party member as he ran towards the darkened Digimon as fast as he could.

"[Fist of the Beast King]!"

Ji-Han was still too far away to do anything but luckily Leomon disregarded Shua as a threat and attacked Greymon instead. What was not so fortunate was that now Naofumi had to deal with Ogremon on his own. And he was powerful enough to shatter the shield prison with one [Tyrant Fist] of his.

"Taichi-saaan", Koushirou called out to the other kid. Right, the kids.

"Everybody, use your Digivices on Leomon", Ji-Han called out. I'll keep him busy until you are ready!"

"[Fist of the Beast King]!"

"[Guard]!"

The fact that the Digimons needed to shout their attacks just like him, was the only reason that Ji-Han managed to bring up his Keyblade in time to survive the attack as the spectral projectile itself was too fast to anticipate without the verbal warning. But with it, Ji-Han could calculate the arrival time and block the attack in time.

"[Fist of the Beast King]!"

"[Guard]!"

And the second one was not only blocked, but actually flung back, flinging its owner backwards.

"Alright!" Cheered Ji-Han but opposite to the friendly Digimon, that guy stood up again right away. But he did not attack again. Instead he just stood there for a moment as if he waiting for something. Then he opened his mouth and said:

"I am your humble servant and will obey you."

Ji-Han was confused. He… wasn't talking to him, right? Ji-Han somehow doubted that the lion man would switch his alliances so easily. So, what? He gotten some new order telepathically? Probably not a good thing then.

Ji-Han was proving right when the Digimon did not throw another Fist of the Beast King and instead walked in a steady pace towards the Gamer, drawing his sword. Ji-Han didn't like that at all. Fist of the Beast King was a rather large direct attack coming always from the same direction. So he could anticipate and block it. But if the Digimon decided to go melee, he could attack from any angle without any warning. And considering how Leomon was strong enough that he couldn't see its level, he really didn't like his chances.

"Naofumi, switch!" He called out to his partner as he beat a hasty retreat. Even though Ogremon had a level of 48, at last he could see the level. With Leomon, only Naofumi had the VIT to survive a hit.

"Don't worry", Taichi suddenly declared as he and his friends ran past him. "We got this!"

Ji-Han exhaled in relief. While they were just as strong as normal human kids, they were the Chosen Ones of this world. And their Digivices had already shown to work against the controlled Leomon before. Hopefully it would stop him again.

To his surprise, it did more than that. The combined light of the five Digivices not only inflicted enough pain that Leomon ran away, it also shrunk, decolored him and reduced his level slowly until it was at 54. Then a number of black gears ejected out of its back, which soon dispersed into black particles. And seeing as now Leomon wasn't controlled anymore, Ogremon, decided to get out of here.

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[The Origin of Life: Primary Town under Siege].  
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award for  
[Do not kill Leomon.]:  
+500 EXP to you and every party member.

Bonus Award for  
[Do not kill Ogremon.]:  
+500 EXP to you and every party member.

Bonus Award for  
[Free Leomon from Devimon's influence.]:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.}

PING!

{Your level went up by 1.}

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv11  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 213/840  
MP: 370/395

STR: 44 (39+3+2) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →  
DEX: 18 (16+2) ← (+0) →  
INT: 19 (19-2+2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 27 (25+2) ← (+0) →  
LUK: 15 (13+2) ← (+0) →

Points: 5  
Munny: 390 517}

Alright, a level up! He really needed all the help he could get against the likes of Leomon and Ogremon… but man, was his HP always this low at a quarter? Forget Leomon, at this point Kabuterimon or Togemon might take him out with one hit. What about Shua?

"[Observe]!"

{Name: Shua  
Class: none  
Title: none  
Level: Lv7 (46.96%)  
Gender: male  
Age: 2  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 660/800  
MP: 197/200  
STR: 20 VIT: 15 (+30) DEX: 21  
INT: 10 WIS: 10 LUK: 9}

He seemed to be alright for now. But Ji-Han himself really needed a pick-me-up.

"Thanks for the help", Yamato addressed him, "but who are you guys?" Next to the boy was his partner in his preevolved form Gabumon, a yellow bipedal lizard with a spiral horn wearing something that looked like the pelt of his evolved form.

"Ah, right", responded Ji-Han to the question, closing the panels. "I am Han Ji-Han, this is Shua and that guy over there is Iwatani Naofumi. We are kinda like aliens who intercepted a call for help from this world to save it from the Heartless."

"Heartless?"

"Cartoonish-looking creatures that turn people into other Heartless by stealing their hearts. Since this Keyblade is the only thing that can defeat them permanently, I've decided to travel from world to world and do so."

"Hey, Matt", Taichi called out to Yamato, "come over, Leomon wants to tell us something!"

Curious Ji-Han followed the Chosen One to the other and got to see Taichi's partner in his preevolved form. Like Greymon the Agumon was a bipedal carnivorous dinosaur, just of yellow color. Which captured his interest because out of all the Digimon Ji-Han had seen so far, it was the one most resembling a real-life animal. Like a baby T-Rex with a shorter tail and bigger head and arms.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Naofumi inquired when they were all together. "If it's about them being Chosen Ones, we figured that out already."

"We are Chosen Ones?" Repeated Taichi surprised and Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so not all know about it. Then I suggest we get to the Vimana and grab the other brats so that we don't have to explain it all over and over again."

"Vimana?" Wondered Koushirou. "Your spaceship is named after the flying palaces of Hindu religion? How can that be? Aren't you from a different world? Why do you have the same mythology?! Eeep!"

The "Eeep" came when Naofumi transformed his shield into the cannon version, signaling Koushirou, he should stop talking.

"We weren't the ones who named it and for your current situation it doesn't matter at all", the Hero of the Shield cut him off. "Now gather around so we don't waste any more time."

"A spaceship?" Taichi asked Koushirou and Mimi responded excitedly in the affirmative:

"Sure is! A real spaceship! We got to see it and it was awesome!"

"I want to see it, too", exclaimed the little Takeru, to which Ji-Han responded with:

"Then make sure you don't let go. I take everyone who is connected to me with me when I beam up."

"I'll stay here with the Baby-Digimon", said… Elecmon? Ji-Han hadn't even noticed the red hare with blue markings and a fan of feathers as tail. Takeru actually left their circle to say goodbye to the Digimon.

[-Primary Village Caretaker-  
Lv23 Elecmon]

Ji-Han was a bit skeptical as to how a Digimon at such a level would be able to hold itself against the likes of Ogremon, but maybe there wasn't any need. Since this was the place where Digimon were reborn, maybe even the evil Digimons decided to leave it alone since it was also the place for _their_ rebirth.

Takeru had finally said his goodbye to Elecmon and they teleported all into the spaceship. With the five kids, their partners and Leomon Ji-Han became more and more glad that the FO Vimana had such a large teleportation room.

"Aright, Shua", Ji-Han told his comrade. "Why don't you get them settled in the canteen while Naofumi and I get the other kids? If any of them can cook, they can, just make sure that we have enough to eat for our way back."

"I think they shouldn't cook", disagreed Naofumi. "I don't want to come back and find our kitchen destroyed because they didn't know how to use the gadgets without breaking them!"

"Oh, right", agreed the Gamer. "But if any of you like raw meat, you can get some out of the fridge."

"You want us to eat raw meat?!" Exclaimed Taichi in disgust to which Naofumi just responded with:

"You don't have to eat anything."

To diffuse the situation Ji-Han then quickly added, that this was only until they got Joe and the others and he would be able to cook. And that the offer for raw meat was just for those who could eat it without problem.

"Okay", declared Ji-Han as he brought File Island onto the screen. Now where were the kids? Still at sea? Looks like they were. And their course was still the same.

So they teleported down and then settled for waiting. Well, Ji-Han had noticed that his MP had gotten back to full and so he used a couple of [Power Strike] to not let his regeneration go to waste. Afterwards he settled for grinding [High Jump], earning him the fourth level in the skill. Until they finally saw the orange bird coming towards them.

"There are other humans here?" Exclaimed Sora in surprise while Joe seemed to be relieved. As they disembarked from their Digimon, the monsters in question returned to their previous evolutions.

[Partner of Love  
Lv13 Biyomon]

[Partner of Reliability  
Lv8 Gomamon]

Biyomon was a pink bird with a red beak and wings that looked more like arms with claws. The feathers on the hair looked more like hair styled backwards and a blue striped cowlick in between two hair spikes that had blue peaks just like the four large tail feathers. Gomamon was a white sea lion-like creature with purple markings. On its round head it had a short orange mane reminiscent of Mohawk-style hair.

"We aren't actually native either", responded Ji-Han to Sora's question. "I am Han Ji-Han and this is Iwatani Naofumi. We are travelers from another world."

"We are Takenouchi Sora and Kido Joe", the girl introduced them. "And these are Biyomon and Gomamon. When you say a different world, you don't mean this one, right? Does that mean you can take us back home?!"

"Sorry", apologized Ji-Han, "but for that I'd have to know where your home is. For now, you'd better just come with us to Koushirou-Gun and the others. Leomon wants to tell us, for what reason you are here in the first place. We are literally just waiting for you."

"Leomon?" Inquired Joe. "Wasn't he working for Devimon?"

"He was, but we took care of the black gears."

"And why should we believe you?" Joe continued suspicious. "How do we know you aren't trying to eat us?!"

"Ah, don't be such a scaredy-cat, Joe", his partner teased him. "I am pretty sure we would realize if they were other Bakemon."

"No, he is right", contradicted Naofumi, "you don't know anything about us, so not trusting us is just common sense." Then he sighed. "Of course now we'll have to waste time to get some of the other brats before we can actually get to business."

"Can you stay here to keep an eye on them?" Asked Ji-Han. "I'll try to hurry."

Some complications later and Ji-Han was back with Taichi and Agumon. And while he managed to convince Joe, suddenly a bunch of Heartless had appeared, delaying the departure even further. Not to mention that there was a new type of Heartless, the {Shaky Applause}, which looked like a white seal with long arms ending in silver cymbals. They attacked by hitting things with their cymbals or banging them together to create shockwaves. Furthermore, they were the first Heartless to use a buffing attack on an ally, increasing their STR by 5% with the status effect [Cheered Up STR 5]. Luckily they seemed to be weak to the Fire Element, as Agumon's [Baby Flame] was quickly able to make short work out of them. And the luck continued when Ji-Han managed to get one Data Fragment of each size out of the two Awake Instinct that accompanied the Shaky Applause.

Not so lucky was that Ji-Han had yet to add Agumon, Biyomon and Gomamon to the party, so there was no chance to get any drops from the Shaky Applauses they defeated. To be fair, Gomamon didn't exactly fight at all but that was beside the point. And since he could fight as Ikkakumon, Ji-Han still invited all three to the party and, once they beamed up, did the same to Gabumon, Patamon and Leomon.

"Alright", declared Ji-Han. "Now you guys deal with all the Chosen One business, while I'll go prepare some food." For like 20 people… hopefully he got lucky enough to get at last half of the dishes correctly…

* * *

"I've got 6 toasts with cooked meat and 9 with fried one", Ji-Han told the children. "Who wants what?"

"I want the fried one", Agumon proclaimed loudly, earning him a disapproving gaze from Naofumi and a sigh from Ji-Han.

"We did tell you that the cooked and fried stuff is for the humans first, right?" Ji-Han reminded him. Agumon had the decency to look sheepish.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot", he apologized.

Ji-Han just shook his head as he distributed the toast.

"Isn't that burned?" Wondered Joe as he took a critical look at his [Half-Burned Salted and Fried Oumukade Toast].

"It is", admitted Ji-Han. "My cooking success rate is currently at 60% for every dish with normal difficulty. But since we can't really throw away food, I've combined the success with the failure to dull down the taste." And both chopping up the cooked and fried meat as well as putting it on a Buttered Toast were mechanical tasks, so their rank was [Inferior]. Which meant that they had no failure rate and were thus the best way to grind his Food Preparation.

"Can at last Takeru get some that aren't half-done?" Asked Yamato. "He is a growing boy, he needs all the nutrients he can get."

"I'll be fine", responded Takeru defiant. "I am big enough!"

"It should be alright", Ji-Han reassured the older boy. "It doesn't seem to inflict any status effects and instead even heals 3 HP."

"You have the most crazy ability I've ever seen", declared the Chosen of Friendship. "And I am including the Digimon."

"He is an alien, after all", noted Mimi to which Ji-Han chuckled.

"Actually, my ability isn't that common where I am from either", he pointed out. "And before I got it, I didn't even know special abilities were a thing. And I am still weaker than any of the Champion-level Digimons. Speaking of, what are your plans now?"

While he had been cooking, the quest [Chosen in Distress: Destined of the Digiworld] had been completed, signaling that now all seven kids knew why they had been summoned.

"We need to defeat Devimon to return to our world", Taichi explained. "So we are going to fight him right after we've finished eating!"

"Would it be bad if you waited for a day?" Ji-Han inquired, surprising the others.

"Waiting?" Wondered Koushirou. "Why?"

"I restore my HP through sleep", he explained. "If we wait, I won't need to use one of my rare potions to do so."

"That would not be a good idea", interjected Leomon. "Devimon plans to invade the Server Continent. If we wait for too long, we won't be able to stop him."

Ji-Han cursed, earning him words of disapproval from Yamato, but he ignored them.

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

The Devil: Showdown on Top of Infinity Mountain

To get back home, the DigiDestined have no choice but to defeat Devimon.

Help the DigiDestined defeat Devimon without sacrificing any DigiDestined.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Make sure Leomon survives.  
2: ?

Completion Award: +5 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award:  
1: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
2: ?

Completion Failure: +1 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}

"Then I guess we won't be able to take our time to prepare, huh?"

He accepted the quest, opened his inventory and took out a Recovery Potion, drinking the whole thing at once {+500}.

"[Status Window]!"

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv11  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 713/840  
MP: 395/395

STR: 44 (39+3+2) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →  
DEX: 18 (16+2) ← (+0) →  
INT: 19 (19-2+2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 27 (25+2) ← (+0) →  
LUK: 15 (13+2) ← (+0) →

Points: 5  
Munny: 390 517}

He still needed more than 100 HP to be at full. And then there were still points to spend. Since his base STR was 39, he would get two STR with one point thanks to [Muscle-Headed Keyblade Fighter], so he should probably do that. But what about the rest? He still didn't know how to increase his DEX without stat points and he had the skill Guard to stop attacks. Which would work better, the faster he could bring up his Keyblade, so DEX it was.

Back to HP, he now decided to use up all the Slug Mucus. It wouldn't really heal a lot, maybe 15 HP total… actually, maybe he shouldn't use them after all. The description said that it could be used in medicine, so maybe he could get a better effect if he used it as an ingredient for something. Not food, obviously, since the description did say to apply it on skin, but maybe some healthy cosmetics. He still had to find something to restore his HP he wouldn't be able to get enough food in time. But that was why he had decided on an experiment:

He took out a full Recovery Potion and an empty bottle, opened the former and carefully poured a bit of the liquid into the second. Then he used [Observe] on both.

{[Recovery Potion]  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 22 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

{[Recovery Potion]  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 478 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

It worked! Instead of using up a full potion to heal 100 HP, he could split up a potion and only use as much as he needed! And then top it off with some food.

Some careful pouring and a drink later and Ji-Han's HP was at 817. Good, but now that he thought about it, wasn't Shua also not at full HP? A quick [Observe] told him that yes, the Pokémon needed 140 HP. He managed to pour enough into the bottle to give him 136. Which he deemed enough for now considering how it would take to long to get all the Digimons to exactly full HP. The kids were already getting restless.

"Okay, we can go now", he told them. "I suggest to go to the big teleporter room so that we can all be teleported together. Also, be ready for anything, since I am going to se the point right onto the top of the mountain, got it?"

"Good."

Ji-Han went to the bridge, did his thing and then went through the whole spaceship to the other end, already seeing the group assembled.

"Any last comments?" He asked. That was when Taichi turned around to face his friends.

"Alright, everybody, this is it!" He told them. "This is the final battle! We are going to defeat Devimon and finally return home! Are you ready?!"

"YES!"

"Then let's say it together: one, two, three, [Beam me down]!"

'Not bad for a motivational speech', thought Ji-Han amused as the light of teleportation took them.

* * *

They teleported in front of a temple on top of the mountain and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The sky was bright, the far-off ocean glistening in the sun and the mountain was quiet, like no one was there.

"Hey, where's Devimon?" wondered Taichi, before he decided to just shout a challenge:

"Come out, Devimon, wherever you are!"

"No need to shout."

Out of the shadows of the temple, a dark figure appeared. It was humanoid but a lot taller thanks to the disproportionate long limbs it had. The legs ended in shoes that seemed to be fused with the body, two sets of two brown belts were wrapped around the shin; the right knee had a skull and the left thigh three black belts who also appeared around the torso, the upper right arm and the lower left arm. The whole lower right arm was wrapped in brown bandages, even the clawed hand except for the tip of the claws themselves, of which the middle one was red instead of the usual black. The left hand was also wrapped in bandages, but here the whole clawed fingers were left bare.

Furthermore the creature had two extra limbs on its back, long tattered bat-like wings with holes in them, a red symbol on its muscular chest that looked like someone wanted an evil Batman, two bull-like horns on the side of its head, red eyes and a white stone on its forehead. The only other white pieces where the skull on its left shoulder and the part around its vampiric mouth, which was the only thing, not covered by its black bodysuit. And above his head:

[Evil of the Mountain  
Lv57 Devimon]

To add to the spookiness, Devimon wasn't even walking or flying, he was literally levitating out of the shadows, the arms crossed in front of his chest like an Egyptian pharaoh. And behind him like a good underling followed Ogremon.

"I have been waiting for you", Devimon spoke. "I have started to think you have run away."

"As if!" Responded Taichi. "We are going to defeat you!"

"You talk as if you have a chance. I am the ruler of this Island! Defy me and I will bring upon you the wrath of the universe! But before that, I have a question for the Keybearer."

Ji-Han was surprised.

"Me?"

"Indeed. The Balance Keeper has already her Chosen. So why do you stand before me, outsider?! Why do you decide to meddle in events that do not concern you?!"

"That's what I've been telling him", Naofumi quipped, earning him a gaze of disapproval from the Gamer.

"The short answer would be that I don't want people to die if I can help it", he answered. "Especially children."

"Is that so? Then I assume you have no complains if I stack the deck in my favor, too?" He raised his right hand and dark portals appeared all around them.

And with the portals came Heartless, all kinds of them. Awake Instincts, Dire and Creeper Plants, Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, Bug Bites, Turnarounds, Houselesses and Shaky Applauses. And then more that Ji-Han didn't recognize. Giant black and white teddy bears, small black T-Rex-like heartless with red markings, white ghosts with a colorful striped cap, colorful beach balls with yellow eyes and birds with wings for ears and boxing gloves as feet.

But before Ji-Han could use Observe on them, they all transformed into black gears, which soon were flying towards Devimon and into his body.

"He's absorbing the Heartless?!" Exclaimed Naofumi in disbelief. "[Shield Prison]!"

But it was futile. While he actually managed to capture Devimon, the black gears just went through them as if they weren't there. Then the sky darkened and the prison broke apart as Devimon grew larger and larger, destroying the temple entrance while he did so just because his growing body needed the space. He didn't stop growing until he towered above them, his feet twice the size of Leomon and a level that only showed as a question mark under an [Observe].

"Ha, you kids got no chance against us now!" Proclaimed Ogremon loudly, only for Devimon to turn around and grab the Digimon. "Wait! What are you doing?! Ahhhhhhh!"

Ogremon screamed out in pain as he was enveloped by a dark aura and then, to the horror of the witnesses, turned into black gears himself.

"What are you waiting for?!" Naofumi shouted. "Evolve already!"

That brought the others out of their stupor and the Digimon began evolving. This did not escape Devimon's notice and he spun around, creating violent winds with his wings just from the motion alone. The kids and small Digimon couldn't keep their footing and were thrown backwards, off the mountain.

"Guys!" Ji-Han cried out in panic but before he could even think about checking up on them, Devimon stretched out his hands and black light shot out of them and towards him. Because of the distraction, Ji-Han couldn't react in time and the streams of darkness hit him, Shua and Leomon, pushing them backwards, just like the gust of wind had done to the others earlier.

{-16} {-16} {-16}

And inflicting damage, too!

Ji-Han brought forth his Keyblade to use [Guard] at the same time that Naofumi activated [Air Strike Shield] and together they stopped the darkness in its tracks. But even if they could block it, they couldn't attack if they only hit behind their defenses.

"[Dodge Roll]!" Ji-Han activated, forgoing his guard and went to the left in a series of [Dodge Roll]s to force the enemy to split his attention between to places.

The gambit worked as Devimon tried to hit Ji-Han and so didn't realize when Shua and Leomon ran from behind Naofumi's cover right towards Devimon's left leg.

"Surprise!" Only for Ogremon's upper body to appear out of the leg and whack with his club at the attackers, who couldn't react in time against this new development and were thrown backwards. That made Devimon notice the others and he stopped trying to hit Ji-Han and instead shot his darkness towards the enemies near his feet.

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!" Naofumi rushed towards his allies and brought his shield up above them, blocking the attack.

"You are a nuisance!" Declared Devimon and stopped firing the darkness attack. Instead he bend downwards and literally grabbed the Hero of the Shield.

"Begone!" He shouted and threw Naofumi off the mountain… or rather, he made the throwing motion. But Naofumi continued to stick to the hand, dangling from a shield looking like some form of leech biting into Devimon. The Digimon was completely dumbfounded at that development and Ji-Han used that moment to ran towards Devimon and attacked him with a series of [Power Strike]s.

"[Fist of the Beast King]!" "Smear!"

Meanwhile the other two also attacked Devimon, the Pokémon more successfully than the Digimon, mostly thanks to the fact that Ogremon focused on Leomon more. Rightfully so as Devimon didn't even seem to notice Shua's fireballs and Power Strikes.

"Get off!" Told Devimon Naofumi instead and the wave of darkness flew out of his hand – but Naofumi was still protected from it by his shield. So Devimon brought his hands together, intend on crushing the Hero of the Shield.

Naofumi let go and fell down as the hands came together above him with a thundering clap. But he didn't let that distract him and his shield transformed into a spiraling rope, which he send out towards the hands. It hooked itself onto the right one and instantly stopped his decent. Right afterwards Naofumi let go to avoid being flung away by the giant Digimon and landed safely on the ground.

"[Meteor Wing]!" "[Mega Blaster]"

Meanwhile Birdramon and Kabuterimon had brought the kids back up and started to attack Devimon, too while the rest of the Digimon except for Patamon evolved, this time without getting interrupted by Devimon.

"Curse you, Keybearer", Devimon called out as he noticed that and then took flight, his wings creating violent wings that the children only managed to withstand by clinging to their Digimon near them.

"[Mega Flame]!" "[Fox Fire]!" "[Chikuchiku Bang Bang]!" "[Harpoon Vulcan]!"

Who proceeded to shoot their attacks at Devimon. Surprisingly opposite to him all had a ranged attack, allowing them to reach airborne enemies. Not that he could tell if they had an effect or not.

"Your attacks are pitiful", Devimon shouted, claiming that they were not. "All you can do is run and cover before me!"

His hands emitted streams of darkness, shooting the flying Digimon out of the sky, before moving his hands around to get everyone on the ground. Naofumi and Ji-Han managed to guard against it and Shua and Leomon were protected by an [Air Strike Shield], but the rest got the full brunt of the attacks.

Even if Ji-Han wanted to protect the other ones, Devimon not only could move his arms faster than Ji-Han could run, but the large size of the Digimon also meant that he couldn't stand in the way of the death rays coming from above. He'd had to stand on top of one of them to protect them…

"Birdramon, Kabuterimon", he called out throw the voice chat. "Can any of you guys carry me on their head? I'll guard you while you attack!"

"Let's try it!" Agreed the lightning bug as he tried to pick himself up to meet Ji-Han halfway. But Devimon noticed his efforts and instantly focused on him again, forcing Ji-Han to run the whole way himself.

"[High Jump]! [Guard]!"

Ji-Han jumped into the way, bringing his Keyblade up to block the stream of darkness, before landing on Kabuterimon's head.

"Kabuterimon", he cried out, "can you make it?"

"Give me a second." Kabuterimon pushed himself up head-first and Ji-Han clung to his horn with his left hand while blocking Devimon's attack with his right. Then the Digimon took flight and with Ji-Han's Keyblade at the front, parted the wave of darkness as they closed in on the giant Digimon. Who, seeing as that didn't stop them, discontinued the ranged attack and instead let himself fall down, realizing that just his mass alone would be enough to take them out of the sky.

"Abort, abort", cried out Ji-Han and Kabuterimon swerved to the side, avoiding the large body as it crashed into the top of the mountain, creating another shockwave and destroying what was left of the temple. But Ji-Han's attention was soon taken by the large hand that swatted him and Kabuterimon out of the air like a fly and down onto the ground. {-205}

PING!

{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Shit, that hurt.

Ji-Han pushed himself up, only for a wave of darkness to come down on him, pushing him into the dirt again. {-16}

Damn it! {-16}

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

A transparent shield blocked the wave of darkness above him, allowing him and Kabuterimon to stand up again.

"Thanks!" Ji-Han called out to the shield hero and looked up at his enemy. Devimon had forgone the wave of darkness again and instead raised his hands high into the air. What was he-?

Then Devimon brought his hands down onto the ground next to him, not even aiming for anyone. However, the mountain had already been strained by his dive and the force of the strike made it fall apart. Cracks appeared in the ground near the edges before the cliffs themselves began sliding down, with the people on top of them.

Panicking the Digimon rushed towards their partners with Leomon going after Mimi to prevent them from falling or at last catch them before they hit the ground, the same with Naofumi for Shua. Ji-Han just used a combination of [Dodge Roll] and [High Jump] to get ahead of the falling cliff.

In the end he was the only one still on top with Devimon, practically standing before the Digimon's feet as the rest of the mountain top had fallen down. Looking down at him, the devil lifted his left foot and Ji-Han und [Guard] to stop the appendage in its tracks and knock it back, putting him off-balance. Not wanting to let that opportunity to go waste, Ji-Han used [Power Strike] on the other foot, but Devimon flapped his wings and not only recovered his balance, but also took flight and so got his foot out of Ji-Han's reach.

"Your resistance is futile!" Devimon told the Gamer. "You might be a Keybearer you do not know how to use it. In your hands, it is nothing more than a wooden stick! And to think that I was worried about you. Fall now with the rest of Infinity Mountain!"

He stretched out his hands, not towards Ji-Han, but to the mountain below, gathering darkness in them.

"Devimon!" Suddenly someone called out to him, a voice that Ji-Han had not heard before.

The voice belonged to a literal angel with six white feathery wings, a metal helmet with a cross at the front, completely covering the eyes but letting out the long orange hair at the back, a yellow shoulder guard on the left side, a single blue bandage wrapped loosely around the left arm, as well as one around the right leg, not to mention four things that looked like the heads of nails randomly placed on the chest, a blue cloth hanging from its girdle, covering only part of the front and fist cuffs on the left hand.

[Partner of Hope  
Lv45 Angemon]

"Who are you?" The devil asked the angel. "Are you that pathetic little Patamon?!"

"Indeed I am, Angemon, the evolved form of Patamon", he readily explained and summoned a golden staff with black ends. "I will now erase your power of darkness!"

Suddenly seven beams of light stretched out from all around the mountain and gathered on Angemon, bathing him in a blinding light that was hard to look at.

'Just like Akari.'

Ji-Han winced at the stray thought that hit his mind, focusing on Devimon's response instead:

"Stop it!" He shouted. "If you try to gather that much energy, you will just destroy yourself!"

"I have no other choice", declared Angemon. "If it can save everyone, my fate is unimportant!"

Angemon… was sacrificing himself? He was going to die?"

'Just like Akari.'

"Wait!" Shouted Ji-Han as he ran forward. "Let me-"

"[Shield Prison]!"

Suddenly Ji-Han was stopped in his tracks by an all-too-familiar sphere of shields.

"Wha- Naofumi? Why-"

"You wanted to take his place, didn't you?" The Hero of the Shield spoke through their voice chat. "You were going to suggest for Angemon to give you the energy instead."

"Yes, I did", Ji-Han answered. "Now, let me out! Before it's too late!"

"And let you die when you can't handle it?"

"I _can_ handle it", he denied. "I am The Gamer and a Keyblade wielder. If anyone can handle it, it is me!"

Ji-Han used his Keyblade to tap the shield prison twice and it shattered, revealing Naofumi and Shua standing right in front of him.

"That just means that if you can't handle it, no one else can", Naofumi refuted. "It does not guarantee your success. And if you die, not only will this world not be saved from the Heartless, only you can beam onto the Vimana so Shua and I would be stuck here in the digital world. Not to mention the worlds you wanted to restore. If I have to fight you to stop you from killing yourself, I will!"

Ji-Han clenched his teeth. As much as he wanted to deny it, Naofumi had a point. Neither the Gamer nor having a Keyblade made him immortal. And if he died, Shua and Naofumi didn't have any way to leave the world. But even so, that doesn't mean he had to like it.

It was just as well that the decision had been taken out of his hands as Angemon had blasted Devimon with a beam of light and now both were dispersing into many particles starting from the bottom and making it way up. Yet Devimon didn't seem to be worried. No, he decided to give some parting words instead:

"You used up all your power. That wasn't very smart, Angemon. Now you're of no use to anyone. You can't get away from the dark forces. Evil is everywhere, so don't savor your victory. There are other Digimon who are just as powerful as I am. Some are even stronger. I wonder what you'll do when you run into them. You haven't won at all! What a waste of time."

And then he was laughing, really laughing. It was just for a short moment until he completely vanished, but in that moment his schadenfreude over the children's future troubles completely overwhelmed his fear of death. With Angemon now fading? Didn't feel like a victory.

{+5833 EXP}

Still didn't feel like victory.

"T.K.", the angel meanwhile addressed his partner, also deciding to go out with a smile. "I'll come back again, if you want me to."

And that were the last words of Angemon, before he vanished and the last feathers fell to the ground.

PING!

{[Angemon] has left your party [World Salvation Party].}

God dammit! Don't sound like it's just normal business!

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[The Devil: Showdown on Top of Infinity Mountain].  
Completion Award: +5 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.  
Decreased reputation with Devimon.

Bonus Award for  
[Make sure Leomon survives.]:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.

Bonus Award for  
[Free Ogremon from Devimon's Body.]:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.

"Smear, smear", Shua spoke excitedly, redirecting Ji-Han's attention towards the Pokémon.

"What is…"

[Lv8 Shua]

"…you leveled up again, didn't you?"

"Smear!"

"And now you want to know where to put the points and what attack you should copy next?"

Shua nodded, but then frowned. He began to draw something on the ground.

"Is everybody alright?" Leomon's voice suddenly resounded through their voice chat and Ji-Han remembered how everybody was scattered into different directions when they fell from the mountain.

"Naofumi, Shua and I are on top of the mountain", Ji-Han explained. "Where are you guys?"

"I leveled up, what should I do?" Huh, that was Palmon. Good for it. Naofumi went ahead and suggested putting all her points into LUK since that was something they couldn't train and they wouldn't be around forever.

"Matt wants to know where T.K. is", relayed Gabumon.

That's right, now that Angemon had left so abruptly, Takeru had no partner anymore. So he quickly invited Takeru into the party. But when he tried to do the same with the other Chosen, he got a message saying:

{Inviting [Ishida, Yamato] to the party [World Salvation Party]  
is not possible as the Maximum Party Size has been reached.  
[Kick] a current party member?}

So he could only have… ten party members at a time? That was a problem.

"We see T.K.", Biyomon's voice cut through the voice chat and Ji-Han relaxed as the children organized meeting up with each other. Looks like they would be fine.

Meanwhile Shua had finished his drawing, showing four rectangles in a row bordering on each other and one more with space separated from them. Inside the rectangles on the left were symbols. The first had claw marks, the second a key, the third a butterfly, the fourth a flame and the fifth a paintbrush. The rectangle with the paintbrush also showed up once again to the right with arrows going to each of the left rectangles. The upper four arrows had question marks above them, while the lowest one was crossed out.

Naofumi only needed one look at the picture and instantly knew what Shua wanted to tell them:

"You can only learn four attack-type abilities and want to know which one to give up for your copying?"

"Smear!"

"Then you should throw away the scratching attacks and see if you can get the Super Shocker from Tentomon. That one doesn't cost any MP either."

It doesn't? When did Naofumi notice that?

While Ji-Han stared at his human party member, Shua followed his advice and tipped someone on his personal screen, before skitting away excitedly to – were that potions?!

Ji-Han followed the Pokémon to the pile of items, noticing a bunch of Munny, two red potions, a blue potion and a book. Ji-Han pocketed the Munny – 450 000, maybe they could now finally buy a healing spell – and used [Observe] on the rest.

{[Recovery Potion - Rank: Normal]  
Base-Value: 300 000 Munny  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 500 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

{[Recovery Potion - Rank: Normal]  
Base-Value: 300 000 Munny  
A health-recovery potion that instantly heals 500 HP.  
Tastes like strawberry.}

{[Ether Potion - Rank: Normal]  
Base-Value: 300 000 Munny  
A mana-recovery potion that instantly heals 500 MP.  
Tastes like blueberry.}

Oh, a potion that restores MP? Could be useful. He himself had Meditation but that took time and Shua had no way to recover MP otherwise. And lastly…

{[Skill book: Death Claw - Rank: Ultra]  
Shrouds the user's hand in Darkness in the form of a claw  
to strike at a target.  
Its power increases when used in combination with  
a weapon of the type [Claw] or [Gauntlet].  
With training it is possible to infuse the target with Darkness.}

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!" Ji-Han shouted out loud, making Naofumi look at him as if he was stupid. So, he did:

"I've got a skill book!"

"So? Anything good?"

That brought his enthusiasm down.

"I don't know", he admitted. "But it means that I can get skill books by defeating specific enemies! And that is always a good thing!"

Ji-Han bend down and picked up the book.

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Death Claw].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

"Yes." And suddenly the book dispersed into motes of light. Looks like skill books really were one-time-use only.

{You have learned the skill  
[Death Claw].}

{[Death Claw (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 30 MP  
Shrouds the user's hand in Darkness in the form of a claw  
to strike at a target.  
Its power increases when used in combination with  
a weapon of the type [Claw] or [Gauntlet].  
Base-Damage: 20}

Huh, looked like the skill wasn't that good, after all. It cost 30 MP and only had the same Base-Damage as his Keyblade. The only things it had going for it that it could stack with claws – which didn't matter to him as his weapon was the Keyblade – and the fact that it maybe dealt elemental damage.

"Ehm, Ji-Han-han?" Tentomon called out through their voice chat. "There's suddenly another human here… though he says he's not human. And he wants to tell us something…"

"Okay, we'll hurry there."

"What is it?" Naofumi asked the Gamer, not having received the same message that Ji-Han had. Probably because Tentomon had forgotten to include him as a recipient.

"Someone else is with the kids", he thus relayed. "Seems friendly so far, but we should still hurry up and go to them."

"Probably just whoever summoned the brats, telling them that their task is finished", guessed Naofumi. "Or that they still have things to do, if what Devimon said is correct." Nevertheless, he still went to Ji-Han so that they could beam up.

That was, when a ray of light broke through the clouds and illuminated the ground in front of Ji-Han – and just the ground in front of Ji-Han. A perfectly round circle of light. Naofumi instantly put his guard up, putting himself between Shua and the ray of light. Which was enough for Ji-Han to also summon his Keyblade and take a defensive stance.

[Can you hear me?]

Wha- a voice?!

Words reached Ji-Han, but he wouldn't say that he heard them. Instead, if was more like a meaning that he suddenly felt. Like it happened within the dream before he gained his Gamer-ability.

"Did you guys… hear that?" He asked his party members, who just stared at him in confusion.

[So you can hear me. I wasn't sure, since you are not attuned to light. It seems the Keyblade was able to bridge the gap.]

"Right", Ji-Han responded unsure. "Who are you?"

[I am the one who watches over the balance between Light and Darkness], the voice explained. [I am the one who chose the DigiDestined and the one who called out to the Keyblade.]

"Wait, you were the one who told me your ID? You actually wanted me to come?"

[Dark forces threaten the digital world. A heartless being from beyond the wall of fire has entered the world and created chaos. I have chosen the DigiDestined to restore the balance. But the chaos attracts even more beings of darkness from beyond the wall of fire. Small in size but large in numbers. They multiply unchallenged in the Dark Ocean and shy not away from any border. We need your Keyblade to seal the Keyhole so that we can combat them undistracted.]

"Sure", responded Ji-Han. "That is what I came here for." That and finding the central keyhole.

[Thank you. Lastly, please do not take the Chosen from this world again, even temporarily.]

Huh? They didn't like it when he used the spaceship for fast travel? Were they scared that the DigiDestined wouldn't return?

…That was actually not that unlikely. If you had chosen someone to be the savior of the world, you would be pretty scared if they suddenly vanished.

"Alright, I won't. But I still got a question myself: Do you know where the worlds devoured by darkness go to or if there is perhaps something like a keyhole for all the worlds?"

[I do not know. I only know of things happening in this world. But in the vast sea of data there are packages on 'axis mundi', the center of the universe. If a keyhole for all worlds exist, it would be found there.]

That made sense.

"Does it say anything on how to get there?"

[It does not.]

"That's a pity. Still, thanks for the info."

Assuming the conversation to be finished with that, the voice fell silent and instead a literal keyhole of light appeared in the ground in front of them. Simple in design, but with a glowing border and black content, just like the keyhole of his own world.

So that was the keyhole of the world? Now how did he go about closing it? Just tapping it twice like usual?

As if sensing his hesitation, the Keyblade stabbed towards the keyhole, dragging Ji-Han's arm with it but not his body. Then light gathered in an orb at the tip, before a beam of light shot towards the keyhole, filling it with light. Then Ji-Han heard something that sounded suspiciously like something being locked and the keyhole vanished. Just like the dark clouds in the sky above, letting the sun shine through again everywhere.

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to lock things with your heart, [Heart Key: Close], has been created.}

{[Heart Key: Close (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Using a Keyblade the user is able to lock anything permanently.  
The effects of [Heart Key: Close] can only be negated by [Heart Key: Open].  
3% decrease of the target's resistance to being locked.}

Alright, he got the skill! Now he could lock the keyholes with just a voice command!

PING!

Huh? What now?

{You have completed the quest  
[The World's Heart: 135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk].  
Completion Award: +20 000 EXP to you and every party member not from that world.  
The world is not devoured by darkness.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
Increased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.}

PING!

{Your level went up by 1.}

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv12  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 532/890  
MP: 395/420

STR: 46 (40+4+2) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →  
DEX: 22 (20+2) ← (+0) →  
INT: 19 (19-2+2) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 27 (25+2) ← (+0) →  
LUK: 15 (13+2) ← (+0) →

Points: 5  
Munny: 840 517}

Alright! That's another level-up for him!

PING!

{Gratitude from a world has created the keychain [Binary Spirit].}

{[Binary Spirit]  
Element: Data  
Damage: +8  
Range: Middle  
No ability.}

Keychain? What the heck was that supposed to mean?!

Ji-Han opened his inventory but couldn't find anything called "keychain" in it. What was it?!

"Smear!" Shua brought him out of his musings.

"Yeah, what is…?"

[Lv9 Shua]

"You've leveled up again?!" Damn, world saving gave a lot of EXP. "You want to know what else to forget?"

"Gle." Shua shook his head. He went to the picture on the ground, crossed out the rectangle with the brush on the right and underlined the same one on the left twice.

"I assume he can only learn the same ability once", Naofumi told Ji-Han and the Gamer nodded. Made sense. He also never learned any ability a second time. Shua was just special in that he forgot his signature skill and thus could, or rather had to relearn it later. But it did show them that they should copy attacks as fast as possible so that they didn't miss out on one when Shua leveled up too fast.

"Ehm, Ji-Han-han, where are you?" Tentomon asked through the voice chat, reminding them that they had wanted to meet up again.

"Right, we're coming!"

Two teleports later and they rejoined with the DigiDestined.

"So", asked Ji-Han. "What did we miss?"

"We met this guy called Gennai who told us that Devimon wasn't our last enemy, that there are more, stronger Digimon on the continent", explained Taichi. "To defeat them, we are going to have to evolve our Digimon even further."

"And to do that, we will have to find the Crests and Tags that Devimon hid", added Koushirou.

"So we still can't get home", whined Mimi.

"Sorry, but I still don't know where you live", Ji-Han apologized. "And even if I knew, I've been told not to pick you up with my spaceship anymore." The kids stared at him in surprise.

"What?! Why?!" The Chosen of Sincerity asked.

"Because they don't like it when they don't know where their Chosen Ones are?"

"You actually met the one who summoned us?" Asked Joe in surprise. "Can we meet them?!"

"Sorry, but they only came to show me the keyhole and tell me to keep you out of my spaceship."

"Does that mean, you won't let us use your spaceship to get to the continent?" Inquired Koushirou. "We have to cross the whole ocean?"

Ji-Han apologized again, while Yamato angrily demanded that they should ignore that warning.

"We have never asked to be send to File Island, so why should we listen to them at all?" He reasoned.

"Because the whole world might get destroyed if you don't?" Suggested Naofumi, making Yamato turn quiet. "It sucks to be a Chosen One, but someone has to do it. At last you aren't summoned by someone who would rather want you dead."

"That happens?" Asked Joe frightened and the Disillusioned Hero answered in the affirmative:

"More often than you would think."

He then turned to Ji-Han.

"With that said, I suggest we go and copy Tentomon's Super Shocker, so that we can be on our way."

"Huh, you aren't coming with us?" Taichi asked Ji-Han but Naofumi answered in his stead:

"We already closed the keyhole, so unless any of you know something about a keyhole for all worlds, our business here is finished. We still have other worlds to save."

"But what was that with Tentomon?" Wondered Koushirou and Ji-Han quickly explained how Shua's attack worked.

"So, if you don't mind, we'd like Tentomon to show off his Super Shocker."

"Tentomon?" Koushirou turned to his partner who had no problem with it.

"[Super Shocker]!" And there went parts of a tree.

"Thank you", Ji-Han told the Digimon while Shua copied the attack.

"So this is it", mused Mimi. "You are really going?"

"Yeah, I've got my own stuff to do", he confirmed. "And since it's in other worlds, we probably won't see each other again."

"That's such a pity", noted the Chosen of Sincerity. "That means from now on we'll have to get our own food."

Ji-Han laughed at that.

"At last you won't have to eat half-burned or overcooked meat", he reminded her.

"Oh, that's right."

"Though I am going to miss having proper seasonings", admitted Taichi. "Remember the time we ate eggs?"

"Yes, we've been talking all about what else we'd like to put on our eggs!" Takeru explained excitedly, cradling the orange and white-striped egg in his lap.

"Ah, no, that's Angemon", explained Koushirou, having noticed Ji-Han's gaze. "He was reborn as a Digiegg."

Angemon wasn't dead?! That was great! The heroic sacrifice hadn't been permanent! Now Ji-Han was glad he hadn't been the one to try and use the light instead.

But back to the matter at hand, while Ji-Han wouldn't be cooking for them anymore, he could at last give them something to make their food better.

"You can have this", he spoke and gave them one unopened container of Traverse Town Salt from his inventory. "Paprika and Curry Power is too expensive to give it away like that, but salt comes cheap in Traverse Town, so I won't mind given this to you."

The cheers of the kids warmed his heart and even Naofumi rolling his eyes couldn't damper it. He would have given them more, but he was sure the Hero of the Shield would have objected. But since it didn't cost them even 1000 Munny and he knew how valuable salt in these kind of settings was, he didn't say anything.

And with that ended their time together. They all said their goodbyes and then Ji-Han, Naofumi and Shua teleported back onto the FO Vimana. But as they walked towards the bridge, the Hero of the Shield revealed, that he had planned to stay on this world a bit longer. He wanted to fish at the lake Mimi and Koushirou had pointed out to get some more food in case he "felt like feeding an orphanage in the next world they visited". Additionally they had not yet seen all items the Heartless in this world dropped and wanted to not miss out on the new shields, something that Ji-Han agreed with. It was also a good idea to train and grind against the enemies here, in case the next world had even stronger enemies.

But all the talks about what to do where cut short when they reached the bridge and Ji-Han went to the console. Instantly his Keyblade appeared on its own.

"Is that-"

Before Ji-Han could say anything else, the Keyblade pulled his arm towards the screen. Lines of digital symbols circled around his Keyblade and once again moved towards the head until they sank into the computer.

{A NEW DESTINATION HAS BEEN ADDED}, appeared on the screen and the Keyblade vanished.

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

The World's Heart: 114-11-8315-yvy-epxpz

Heartless are using the keyhole to the heart of the world to travel into the heart of the world in an attempt to devour it.

Close the keyhole to the heart of the world to prevent it from being devoured by darkness.

Completion Award: +25 000 EXP to you and every party member not from that world.  
The world is not devoured by darkness.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
Increased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.

Completion Failure:  
Decreased reputation with everyone you meet on the world and everyone they know.  
Decreased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.}

"A new destination and quest!" Exclaimed Ji-Han. "Looks like the next world has been decided."

"But we won't go there until we finished with this one and prepared in Traverse Town", declared Naofumi. "Fortunately, we have all the time in the world for it."

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And that's everything I've got for now. And while I want to continue, it will take a lot of time. Not just the writing, but all the research, too. As I've said when I first published this story, I don't think this will go anywhere, unless I've get some help. Even something simple like describing a characters appearance in words that I can copy-paste, is one thing I have to do less. And if just enough people help with even the small stuff, my real-life obligations will not result in this story staying incomplete. For that I've created the forum [Heart of Akasha Diskussions], where I put in multiple threads for the many things others can help with.

And that's literally all I can do to make sure this story stays alive. I, as one person, am just not enough for this story. So if you like this story enough that you would like to see it continued, don't hesitate to help in any way you can think of.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	12. Chapter 11: It's a Small World

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N:

Thank you for your reviews, **merendinoemiliano**, **kewllewk** and **vkg313**.

Hi, guys and gals.

As of Thursday I accidentally deleted the last 20 000 words of this story while I had been trying to secure my progress. As you can imagine, this put quite a damper on my enthusiasm in continuing this story. So I have decided instead of first completing the whole next world, I would finish the nearly completed chapter I still had and then publish the current progress instead. Maybe that will give me some motivation. Still, if you found me glossing over something, it's because I have to get back the time I've lost, if I even decide to do that much.

But for now, onto the story:

Chapter 11: It's a Small World

"And that's the last of them", mused Ji-Han as he put the [White Smooth Pillar Candle (5cm x 7.5cm)] back into his inventory and took a look and the pieces of paper scattered over the table he was sitting at in the canteen. The pieces of paper all held information to Heartless, one for each. After he had woken up this morning, Naofumi had told him he should sort his inventory to have an easier time selling his stuff to the right shop when they finally reached Traverse Town that day. While doing so, he had gotten the idea to write down which Heartless had dropped which item, in case he was thinking about farming for a specific item.

Now he just had to gather all the pieces of paper and sort them properly.

Shadow: Pureblood;  
Drops: Lucid Shard  
Location: Traverse Town

Darkside: Pureblood;  
Drops: Lucid Shard, Recovery Potion  
Location: ? (was in home world that got destroyed) (dealt with)

Awake Instinct: Pureblood, digital version of Shadow  
Drops: Data Fragments  
Location: File Island – all areas

Soldier: Emblem;  
Drops: Scrap Iron, Scrap Aluminum, Scrap Lead  
Location: Traverse Town

Air Soldier: Emblem;  
Drops: Tanned Deer Leather – Brain, Chrome, Vegetable  
Location: Traverse Town

Bizarre Archer: Emblem;  
Drops: arrows – wood, some kind of yokai…  
Location: Traverse Town

Guard Armor: Emblem; (multiple pieces)  
Drops: Guard Armor, Recovery Potion, Munny  
Location: Traverse Town (dealt with)

Dire Plant: Emblem; legless plant  
Drops: Bullet Seed; flower pots  
Location: File Island – Forest, Lake

Creeper Plant: Emblem; legged plant  
Drops: Bullet Seed, Creeper Root  
Location: File Island – Forest, Lake

Houseless: Emblem; slug, resistant to Fight  
Drops: slug mucus – healing item; ingredient  
Location: File Island – Forest, Lake

Bug Bite: Emblem; wing shockwaves  
Drops: bug shells  
Location: File Island – Forest

Shaky Applause: Emblem; seal with cymbals on hands  
Drops: Northern Fur Seal Skin, different cymbals (brass)  
Location: File Island – Lake, Primary Village

Red Nocturne: Emblem; fire FF-wizard  
Drops: Blaze Shard – fire Lucid Shard  
Location: File Island – Temple Ruins, Desert

Blue Rhapsody: Emblem; ice FF-wizard  
Drops: Frost Shard – ice Lucid Shard  
Location: File Island – Ice Area, Ghost House

Turnaround: Emblem;  
Drops: Scrap Stainless Steel  
Location: File Island – Temple Ruins, Ice Area, Ghost House

Roll Over: Emblem; beach ball  
Drops: Chicken Eggs, Blaze Shard, Frost Shard, Thunder Shard  
Location: File Island – Primary Village

Two-Story Toy: Emblem; giant teddy bear; half white, half black  
Drops: Short Staple Tree Cotton, American Pima Cotton; Long Staple Upland Cotton; Plushie Coupon  
Location: File Island – Primary Village, Ice Area

Aerial Knocker: Emblem; bird with boxing gloves  
Drops: feathers – domestic turkey, stellar's sea eagle  
Location: File Island – Desert

Little Bite: Emblem; small black T-Rex with red markings  
Drops: coal, multiple types  
Location: File Island – Desert

Trick Ghost: Emblem; ghost able to go upside down and change pattern; immune to None and Fight  
Drops: candles (white, smooth, pillar); Hogwarts Candle  
Location: File Island – Ghost House

Not quite the most detailed accounts, but that should be enough if anyone ever gets interested. Even if the two and a half-days-trip to File Island was a bit long without any form of entertainment. But maybe he could find some of the Heartless on other, closer worlds and then farm the items there. At last he really hoped, the Two-Story Toys would, since one of their drops, the Plushie Coupon, an item that transformed into a different plushie dependent on which world it was used, tickled his collector's spirit. Unfortunately Naofumi had vetoed them grinding for it and so his only hope was that it showed up in a different world. Considering that it did show up in both Primary Village and the ice area, did hint in that direction.

Nevertheless, with how long this whole thing had taken, he wouldn't be surprised if they would soon reach Traverse Town. So he went to the bridge to check the time: {000:00:02:44}

So, two minutes and 44 seconds. Too short to start anything new. Maybe just grinding some skills like Hidden Key. That was generally what he used his MP for after he had managed to bring Night Eye to level 30, decreasing its cost to 36 HP for every 36 seconds. At this point he was able to fight in darkness for 5 minutes and still have enough MP for some Power Strikes. Not Stun Impact, but considering that the skill Ji-Han got when Keyblade Mastery hit level 36 cost whooping 500 MP, he was hard-pressed to use it even once. Speaking of, how were his skills in general?

"[Skills]!"

{Food Preparation – Lv17  
English Listening – Lv2  
Blunt Weapon Mastery – Lv48  
Keyblade Mastery – Lv39  
Observe – Lv21  
Power Strike – Lv8  
English Reading – Lv3  
Physical Endurance – Lv5  
Guard Break – Lv1  
Guard – Lv28  
Throwing Mastery – Lv1  
Power Throw – Lv1  
Dodge Roll – Lv11  
Night Eye – Lv30  
Hidden Key – Lv18  
Meditation – Lv13  
High Jump – Lv5  
Death Claw – Lv5  
Heart Key: Close – Lv1  
Stun Impact – Lv1}

{You have reached your destination [Traverse Town].}

And in the end, looking through every skill and its level had taken all the time left before they reached Traverse Town. So, nothing left to do but to use up all of his MP for Hidden Key while he was waiting for his party members to gather on the bridge. The last time he had been in Traverse Town he had made sure not to use up all his MP before setting foot in the city world. But that was then. Now he was level 14, Shua was level 11, Naofumi was level 23, they had increased some of their stats through training and he got the title [Combat Apprentice] when they beat the Music Cup, which gave him 4 points in all stats instead of two, and while the Heartless in the City Cup had too much defense and HP for them to get the next title, the Heartless in Traverse Town where low-level and could thus be easily defeated with normal attacks.

No, the question currently on his mind was, if they should go and sell the item drops or go and report to Zenkichi first. In the end it was practicality that made his decision. The earlier he sold his stuff, the earlier he could buy stuff and the earlier the shops could restock. He might not have used up a lot of the stuff he had bought because he had rather been using the Oumukade Meat to grind his Food Preparation, but he did hope to change that in case they would have to feed a bunch of people again, just like with the DigiDestined.

So when Naofumi and Shua reached him, he teleported with them first to The Smithy. Just like the last time, Arai and Kousuke were around, the former working on some kind of armor, the latter was resting again, only giving them a short nod as greeting, before setting his head down again. Did that guy do something else besides sleeping at all?

The answer to that question came once a Soldier had decided to venture into The Smithy while they were doing business. Before either of them could react, a rectangle wooden block with drawings resembling a head appeared next to Kousuke, opened in between the row of white square teeth and bit down on the Heartless, evaporating it in an instant and vanishing right afterwards, too.

Then Kousuke, who had just stretched out his hand, but it back under his head and went back to resting. That was pretty much proof that his job was to protect The Smithy, as he only got active just long enough to deal with the threat.

Nevertheless, after that little excitement they continued with the business. In the end, Ji-Han told Seikuu all his scrap aluminum and iron, all the feathers, all the coal and all the bug shells, with the restriction that Naofumi would get part of the large Soft Bug Shell for his shield to absorb. Ji-Han had thought of selling the cymbals as scrap brass but since even the largest of them did not even give 300 Munny for that, he'd rather sell them at the Leon Shop. And even without those he had already gotten over a million Munny, though a lot of that would be used to buy a healing ability from Tohko.

Just not now. He still had other shops to go to. Namely the Leon Shop and… Michiru and Mitsuyo. He wasn't looking forward to that one. After all, the last time, he had seen them, he had told them about Akari's death and they had told him to get out.

Just what was he supposed to say? Would they refuse to do business with him? Probably not. He didn't actually hurt Akari on purpose and they had been separated for a week, which should have been enough time for them to calm down. Maybe? He still felt guilty about it, even though most people agreed that it wasn't his fault, so they might think the same. But no matter what, it would definitively be awkward.

Turns out, he was right.

"Welcome", Michiru greeted them as they entered the clothing store, only for her to stop dead in her tracks as she realized just who it was that had set foot into her shop.

"H-hello", greeted Ji-Han, shuffling awkwardly around. "I am back…"

The words escaped him as he tried his best to meet the woman's eyes, yet averted his gaze every time he did so.

Luckily for him, he was not alone.

"Tch. We're here to sell some stuff", Naofumi disrupted the atmosphere, allowing both of them to leave their personal issues aside and do business.

"Right this way" Michiru told him and Ji-Han followed her, before bringing out his goods, different kinds of cotton and Northern Fur Seal Skin.

"This seal skin", Michiru mused. "That comes from you Gamer-ability, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because I wouldn't accept real seal skin", she explained. "And you should probably get a certificate that yours is magically created from the Hero Union. It is illegal to sell real seal skin in a lot of worlds."

Wait. It was?

"Really?"

"Yes, not so much in worlds in the Middle Ages or post-apokalyptic, but those with a healthy international communication have communities who don't like people killing seals for their skin."

"Right. Thank you for the advice."

"You are welcome. I will pay you 23 129 Munny for your cotton and seal skin. Is that acceptable."

"Yes. Thank you very much."

"Thank you for your business."

With one step crossed off from his mental list and one added, Ji-Han left the clothing store and went to the general store, to pawn off all of the rest of the drop items they didn't need. Then he bought some Milone Toast, Milone Butter, Traverse Town Salt and Mineral Water. Basically everything they used up during their travels so far. Anything else he would see once they bought the healing skill.

But to their surprise, Tohko wasn't at the book store Book Girl. Instead it was a different young woman lazying about in a chair, one of her legs on top of the counter. She had yellow eyes and long purple-blue hair that besides a cowlick, stood to the side above her ears, giving the impression of additional ears, fitting to the cattish impression on her face. Her tomboyish clothes reminded her of his Noona, extemerly short orange trousers and a loose green tank-top that revealed her stomach. But as she did remind him of his Noona, he quickly looked somewhere else. Poong Sae-Young had always been quit to physical violence and he did not want to risk it with this woman.

[Glutton of Opportunity  
-Book Girl Employee-  
Lv18 Natsukawa, Kuina]

The woman had not yet noticed them, so absorbed was she in the book she was holding. So absorbed in fact, that she didn't even notice them staring, when she suddenly ripped out the page and brought it towards her mouth, only to stop dead in her tracks. She looked at the page she had torn out and cursed.

"Not again…" she mused as she tried to put the page back at the right place, still not noticing her audience. Ji-Han felt like he just witnessed something he shouldn't have and got uncomfortable, not knowing if he should say something.

Naofumi, however, showed the second time that day, he had no trouble speaking up in this situation:

"Oi, we're here to buy stuff", he called out, making Kuina freeze and slowly look up towards them. It took a moment for her, but then she realized they were not just standing there right now, they also had to have been standing there for a bit.

"I wasn't going to eat it, honest!" She quickly spoke up, downright panicking as she put down her leg and literally jumpted up. "I've just been gripping the page too hard when I turned it, so I accidentally ripped it out. Really! I don't eat paper. At all."

"It's alright", Ji-Han reassured her. "Tohko-Ssi already told us about literature girls, you don't need to hide it."

Her mouth hang open for a moment, before she gathered her wits.

"Right, right", she acknowledged. "I am a literature girl. Of course I eat books, because that is what literature girls do. Eat books. Nothing unusual about that. Nothing at all."

Now Ji-Han was confused. With how insistent she was, it sounded more like she _wasn't_ a literature girl. Yet she still had nearly eaten the page. Was she that embarrassed about eating books?

"Back to business", demanded Naofumi. "We are here to buy a healing book. The most expensive one."

They had, after all, enough Munny for either of the three that Tohko had showed them the last time they were there, so why shouldn't they get the best one possible? They had no other way to restore HP besides the Recovery Potions and some nearly useless Slug Mucus and buying the least expensive one, only to find out that it was useless, would suck. Theoretically that could by the case for the most expensive one, too. But if the cheap one was bad, they still had to buy the expensive one in hopes that it would be better. So, why not buy the expensive one from the start?

Unfortunately, their plans were put on hold as Kuina didn't even know what they were talking about.

"We have books on healing?" She inquired. "I didn't know that."

"It's one of the magic books that no one else can use", Naofumi explained. "Didn't Tohko say anything about that?!"

"I don't know anything about that", she refuted. "You'll have to ask her when she gets back."

"She's not here at the moment?" Ji-Han asked and Kuina shook her head. "No, she's currently out. Don't know when she's getting back."

"Then we'll come back later", decided Naofumi, before turning to Ji-Han. "You wanted to report to Hitoyoshi-san, didn't you?"

"Right", Ji-Han agreed. "We'll just report to Zenkichi-Ssi first and then come back." It wasn't like the Heartless in Traverse Town could give them enough damage that healing was necessary. And with the quick-travel thanks to the spaceship, they would even have less opportunities to stumble upon the monsters.

* * *

"Ah, welcome Han-san, Iwatani-san and Shua", Zenkichi greeted them. "It has been a while, hasn't it? Do you have some urgent business or do you mind if we eat while talking?"

As his words suggested, he and Mikage were currently in the middle of eating from some lunch boxes. It seems they had caught them on their break.

"It's nothing like that, Zenkichi-Ssi", Ji-Han thus quickly reassured the leader of Traverse Town as he and his party members sat down. "I just wanted to tell you how my first world went."

"Indeed? From your expression I assume you managed to seal the keyhole."

"Not just that", exclaimed Ji-Han. "I've also met the… world? Administrator? Something that wants to make sure the world is not destroyed. Something that called for some Chosen Ones to save the world. At last from threats that are from that world. It told me that it then called out to me for the exact purpose of closing the keyhole, to protect the world from the Heartless. It then showed me the keyhole and my Keyblade closed it. On its own."

"That is good", noted Mikage. "This sets to rest our worries that you would not be experienced enough with the Keyblade to close the keyholes."

Ji-Han nodded.

"And now I've got this skill that allows me to replicate the effect. So we won't have the problem of it not working later on."

"Another piece of good news", commented Mikage. "Unless the power of the skill would be too low for the next one?"

"Shouldn't happen", Ji-Han refuted. "I mean, sure, it says that it reduces the resistance to being locked by 3 percent, meaning that it can be resisted, but for that you have to want to resist it. And just like before, I just got another world asking for help, so they shouldn't want to resist."

"Does that mean you have to wait for worlds to reach out to you before you can save them?" Inquired – holy shit, where did that guy come from?!

[Ghost on the Field  
Lv31 Kuroko, Tetsuya]

He was a middle-aged man with short light blue hair and eyes of the same color. He was wearing a casual white sweater and blue jeans. And most of all, he was sitting next to Zenkichi as if he had been sitting there the whole time. Considering he had spoken up during their conversation he probably had. And Ji-Han still hadn't noticed him up until he actually did spoke up.

_Just like Akari._

Ji-Han flinched as the pain of losing the girl became raw again. This old man, was he like Akari? Cursed to be ignored by people? Cursed to be forgotten?

"Is something the matter?" Tetsuya's inquiry brought him out of his musings and Ji-Han shook his head to gather himself.

"Sorry, just remembered something. What was the question again?"

But instead of repeating the question, the old man instead said:

"I understand. You can talk to me, if you want to, alright?"

"…right."

"Back to the question", interjected Naofumi. "It would be better for Ji-Han if he went to the worlds who have reached out to him first, before you give some suggestions. With those we know that they actually want his help. Otherwise, the world might react… hostile to the Keyblade wielder."

"Right", agreed Ji-Han. "The Seeker of Truth told me that my own world used to kill people it didn't like. No reason to take that risk while I still got other things to do."

"That makes sense", agreed Zenkichi. "Some worlds are quite hostile to anything alien. An invitation should go a long way."

"Yeah, and even then, the world didn't automatically guide me to the keyhole", remembered Ji-Han. "I don't know if it couldn't or if it was testing me, but we first had to deal with Devimon before the keeper of balance showed itself and the keyhole. So, I wouldn't be surprised, if the next world is the same."

Zenkichi nodded.

"It would not be wrong to prepare for the next quest with this in mind", he declared. "With that said, is there anything else, you would like to report?"

"Oh, since we are already at it, I got something called a keychain", Ji-Han recalled. "Check this out!"

The Gamer held out his hand and summoned his Keyblade. But while it still looked like _a_ Keyblade, it didn't look like _the_ Keyblade they were used to. It was simple in design, a "1" as shaft and upwards teeth and a "0" with a diagonal bar on the inside as the handle. Only that the 0 was tilted, so that the diagonal bar was in line with the shaft. Its color, however, was something special. It was in a darker shade of green that was glowing and surrounded by a black outline. As in, no matter from which direction you looked at the Keyblade, it was always green outlined by black.

"It's called [Binary Spirit]", Ji-Han explained happily. "It doesn't have any ability like the [Gaia Key] but it has 8 more damage and normal attacks with it are treated as having a Data-Element. Cool, right?"

Ji-Han was really proud of it. Partly because he had trouble finding the place to change keychains at first. The new keychain hadn't shown up in his inventory, after all. Luckily, whenever he opened his inventory, on the left side was also a figure to equip things with. And with it the panel for keychains. He only had two for now, but just being able to switch between different equal weapons depending on the situation was awesome!

"Is this the transformation ability that our research pointed out?" Wondered Mikage. "Where the larger transformation just an exaggeration or a different feature?"

"Unfortunately, I suspect we will only find out the answer to this question, if it is confirmed", assumed Zenkichi. "The Keyblades are such mythical weapons that we will never be able to dismiss any supposed features as definitively not possible."

Ji-Han nodded. Yeah, his Keyblade was crazy like that.

"Anything else, you wish to report?" Mikage asked him and, after giving it some thought, shook his head.

"No", he told them. "I think that should be all the important stuff. Unlike you think there's something to talk about?"

There wasn't anything, so Naofumi urged them out to prepare for the next world. Which really only meant getting the healing skill and refilling their empty water bottles. And once they had finished with the latter, Tohko had already been back at the book shop, so that they soon were in the possession of the healing skill:

{[Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 20 MP/s  
Sends out gusts of wind that heals wounds  
they come into contact with.  
Heals 1 HP for every second of contact.}

1 HP each second didn't sound much, especially considering that one needed to pay 20 times the amount of MP to use it, but that was alright. It was only level 1, after all. It was to be expected that it wasn't overly strong. And even if that meant that for now he couldn't use it in combat, just having the ability to regenerate his HP outside of combat without actually sleeping, was already incredible! He had to try it out right now!

Or at last, as soon as they had exited the book shop. Using any kind of wind magic next to a bunch of books was just asking for trouble.

"Alright, Shua", he told the Pokémon. "Hit me!"

"Smear!"

{-175}

"Ouch!"

PING!

{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}

"Damn, your Power Strike hits hard", noted Ji-Han as he picked himself up from the ground. "Alright, let's try it out! [Status Window]. [Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration]!"

Ji-Han held out his two hands and from the palms flew out two streams of green-colored winds, going as far as two meters, before dispersing into nothingness. Ji-Han eagerly looked at his Status Window – and nothing. No change in HP. Only his MP was going down each second.

Could it be… the Breeze of Regeneration only healed _other_ people?!

"Oh, come on!" He cried out, throwing his hands into the air – and the winds followed.

Surprised Ji-Han observed how the green winds where now flying upwards, still in the direction his palms pointed. Seeing this, he brought his hands down, palms towards him. {+2} It worked! {+2} But wasn't it supposed to be one HP instead of two? {+2}

Ji-Han pointed one hand away from him and now the regeneration dropped to one HP.

So he could either send out the winds into two directions, or focus them on one point for double the effect?!

Ji-Han laughed.

"Oh man, I am awesome!" He declared, making Naofumi snort.

"Sure", the Hero of the Shield responded. "How's your MP by the way?"

The answer to that question was {3}. In other words, he hadn't enough MP to continue using the skill, making the green winds evaporate.

"Okay", Ji-Han conceded. "I _will become_ awesome. Better?"

"Only if you manage to grind the skill to useful levels before we hit the new world", Naofumi responded. "Which means you also have to be prepared to take a lot of damage."

Ji-Han winced. Even if he didn't get any permanent damage, getting hit hurt at that moment.

"At last I can grind Physical Endurance at the same time", he tried to see the positive side of things. "After I regained my MP through Meditation."

"You can do that once we have started the journey", Naofumi interrupted. "Or do you have anything else you still have to do in Traverse Town?"

Ji-Han shook his head.

"No, we've bought everything we need", he agreed. There was the possibility that the journey could take longer than they had prepared for, but in this case they could easily delay the departure and got more stuff. Maybe even go back to the Digital World if it took that long.

But once they actually got to the spaceship and locked in the destination, they've got quite the surprise:

{Estimated Time of Arrival: 000:02:01:15}

"Two hours?" Read Ji-Han out loud. "The other took three days, why does this world only take two hours?! Are their neighbors or what?"

Naofumi shrugged.

"Who knows?" He responded. "Maybe the Digital World was just extremely far away. Important is only that we will have to adjust our schedule."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because two hours are hardly enough time to grind your healing skill."

"True. So what are you going to do while I hole myself up in the spaceship?"

"I'll probably do some side jobs to pass the time", Naofumi mused. "Meanwhile Shua has to stick with you to reduce your HP. Which means he'll only be able to grind… which reminds me, we still have to get more books for studying."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han. "Can I leave that to you? And maybe get some playing cards while you at it?"

"Playing cards? Are you trying to grind your luck?"

"…Right", Ji-Han agreed quickly. "That's exactly why I want playing cards."

But the Hero of the Shield wasn't fooled.

"You just wanted them to play around when you got bored of studying, didn't you?" He accused.

"…Yeah."

"No matter. We should try and see if it works nonetheless. But for now you'll focus on the healing skill!"

"Yes!"

* * *

{You have reached your destination [114-11-8315-yvy-epxpz].}

"Huh?"

Once again Ji-Han had been meditating when they reached the new world and so, once again, it took him some time before he realized where he was. But once the confusion had worn off, he quickly activated [Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration] to restore the HP that he had lost from Shua's last Power Strike. Say what you want about the attack's usefulness against their enemies, if you didn't had an insane amount of VIT, getting hit by a CRIT hurt. Even though Physical Endurance had leveled up like crazy because of the large damage the Power Strikes did, it still hadn't managed to reduce the damage below 800. Thus he always had to make sure not to let Shua attack him when his HP was under 1000. It would have been really tragic if Shua killed him because of grinding.

But so far they had no trouble with that and besides Physical Endurance at level 16, Meditation and Breeze of Regeneration had been grinded until level 15 with that method. Especially the latter was important as they didn't start the journey until he had managed to restore 10 HP every second with each hand and that had only increased to 14 HP every second in the time it took them to travel to the new world. Which meant that currently it took him a maximum of 40 seconds to get to full HP if he didn't do anything except heal himself, if you ignored the fact that he didn't have enough maximum MP for that.

Nevertheless, with his current level it was deemed useful enough that they could go out into the field. Or rather, down onto the world. Just like on File Island, they had decided to not scan the world and go in blind first. Which meant that the first act after teleporting down was to look at their surroundings.

Once the green light receded, they found themselves in a small groove of trees surrounded by green fields of grass. Once they left the groove they saw not too far in the distance a white stone wall blocking part of the scenery. It varied in height and was broken up by a gate which a stone-paved road lead to.

"It seems we have landed on a western fantasy world", surmised Naofumi as he took in the situation. "Just like Melromarc it has fresh air, wide open fields and simple roads. The white wall looks like a walled-off town. Which only makes sense if they are able to stop someone from intruding, meaning a lot of the danger the people here face does not come from weapons that make walls pointless. Furthermore, Shua still looks like a Smeargle, which means this world has fantastic creatures."

"You have experience with these kind of worlds?" Inquired Ji-Han and Naofumi shrugged.

"The world I had been summoned to, was like that", he explained. "Even if the towns were not usually walled off."

"Does that mean that this world is more dangerous than yours?"

"It at last means that the town was in danger of being attacked when it was created. Not that any Heartless is going to be stopped by a wall."

"Right", exclaimed Ji-Han. "Let's go and see what's going on in this world."

If it was just like the digital world, they would have to do some stuff before the world contacted them and then showed them the keyhole. Though for that they first had to find stuff to do. And for that they went to the single interesting thing: The city.

Surprisingly they had no trouble getting into it. With the metal gates and five-story high walls, Ji-Han had expected to be held up before they could enter. Like guards calling them suspicious or demanding an entrance fee. But there hadn't even been any guards. No restriction whatsoever regarding their entrance and the people inside not even giving them more than a passing glance.

To be fair, the latter was not that surprising, considering how colorful the citizens were. Hair in all colors of the rainbow, cloaks and pointy hats, full plate metal or bikini armor, simple peasant clothes or priest outfits, swords, bows, magical stuffs or even some pointy ears or animal ears on top of their head. All in all in looked like a fantasy MMO come to life.

Which mean that there might be a place where people looked for quests, like a tavern. Or, as it turned out after asking around, an actual real adventurer's guild. Which had a tavern inside.

"Welcome", greeted a black-haired waitress, realizing that they were new to the city. "If you are looking for work, go to the counter. If you are here for a meal, please take an empty seat!"

At the counter there were four receptionists. All four were currently free so Ji-Han went to the closest one, a tall guy with broad shoulders, a round face and nose, small eyes and short brown hair that resembled a military haircut.

[-Adventurer's Guild Receptionist-  
Lv14 Nox]

"Hello, what can I do for you?" Asked the guy with a polite yet firm voice.

"Hello", greeted Ji-Han back. "We are new here and so wanted to ask some questions."

"Go ahead."

"Right, ehm… have you ever heard of something called the keyhole?"

The receptionist looked at Ji-Han thoughtfully.

"I cannot say I have ever heard of a keyhole mentioned outside of their common use in doors and chests", he answered finally. "Do you want to put out a quest for information on it?"

"No need", interjected Naofumi. "It was a long shot anyway. We have better chances of success by looking for any special monster that has shown up recently."

"If you are looking for quests, the quest board is to the left", Nox pointed out. "However, if you are looking for a special monsters, a Heartless called Underground Monkey has appeared three days ago… excuse me."

With that he turned around and called out towards his colleges:

"Is the Underground Monkey Quest still free?"

To which the answer came:

"Sorry, this one has already been cleared."

Nox turned back towards Ji-Han and his party.

"As you've heard, the Underground Monkey has already been defeated. I am sorry, but it appears you will have to wait until it comes back."

"How do you know that the people were telling the truth?" Inquired Naofumi. "As you've probably realized, they do not leave behind any proof of their defeat."

Huh. Come to think of it. The people here not only knew of Heartless, they also knew that they could not be defeated permanently. But they still had no idea about the keyhole. It was quite different compared to Traverse Town with the top knowledge and File Island, where no one had any idea what they were.

"That is what the adventurer's card is for", Nox answered Naofumi's question, interrupting Ji-Han's thoughts. "Whenever you defeat a monster, the adventurer's card stores how many monsters one has killed and of what type. It is the same for Heartless."

"That's convenient", noted Naofumi drily. "How do we get one?"

"You do not have one yet? You get one when you register as an adventurer. Do you want to register now?"

"Might as well", declared Ji-Han and Nox nodded.

"Very well. The registration fee is 10 000 Munny per person."

10 000?! That was… normal, actually. He would have never been able to effort that at the start of the journey but now he had cash in a digit higher. Now he could effort it.

"[Status Window]", Ji-Han opened his status window and chose the right amount of Munny. But as the money fell into his hand, it was not the orbs he had come to know in Traverse Town, but a paper bill and a gold coin. That was the first time he had seen the transformation of Munny in person. Not to mention that he didn't even know what the currency was called since he got the monetary values automatically translated to Munny.

"Thank you very much", Nox responded as he made to take the 3 copper coins. But he hesitated for a moment, looking around Ji-Han and Naofumi until his gaze fell upon Shua. Then he took the coins without any hesitation and took out three forms. "Now please fill in your name, height, weight, age and distinctive physical features."

"What if we don't know our weight?" Inquired Naofumi and Shua nodded. It seemed like the people in Traverse Town did not often measure their height and weight. Not that Ji-Han still remembered his own features.

"Just an estimate is fine", Nox quickly reassured them, allowing them to fill out the forms without any problem. "Good, now these are your cards."

Nox handed out three flat objects the size and shape of driver's licenses. But when Ji-Han wanted to take Shua's, Nox shook his head and bended down to give the Smeargle his personally.

"The cards have to be touched by the owner first", he explained. "And then given back to me so that I can lock in your class." He took the card back from Shua.

"Now let's see. Shua. Strength, Vitality, Magic, Agility and Intelligence seem all to be average with Luck slightly below. With these stats you can't actually specialize for now so you will have to take the basic Adventurer class. It allows one to learn all skills but at the cost of more skill points."

Wow. That sounded just like a video game. Ji-Han's main selling point was his Gamer ability and here the whole world worked on a principle like that. Speaking of, how would it interact with his Gamer? Unfortunately, he had to wait as Naofumi hadn't been distracted and given Nox his card.

"Naofumi Iwatani. What the- what kind of Vitality is that?!"

Nox's outburst brought forth the attention of every person in the building. Most of the receptionists and some of the people in the guild went over and Naofumi became quickly the center of attention.

Comments like "I've never seen a Vitality that high on that level." and "Are you sure you are a newbie?" filled the room. Though while someone else might have basked in the attention, Naofumi wasn't the type.

"Get on with it", he instead demanded annoyed and Nox quickly did as he was told.

"Right. Besides Vitality and the Strength, which is downright abysmal, all your other stats are average. So I would advise you to become a Crusader."

"Sure."

"Okay. Now, last but not least, Ji-Han… Han? Except your above average Strength and below average luck, you have all average stats. Besides Adventurer, the only other class would be Fighter… wait. You already have a class? It's called… Gamer?"

"Pffffffffffffffffffff!"

Nox next words were drowned out in the sound of someone spluttering and coughing. His interest aroused, Ji-Han turned around to look at a table close, where a lone person had just choked on their drink and send it flying.

He was a young man similar to their age with short brown hair and green eyes. Besides the white shirt, dark pants and leather boots he also wore a gold-trimmed green mantle that mostly covered his back.

[Lucky Thief  
-Adventurer-  
Lv9 Satou, Kazuma]

Seeing as everybody was now looking at him, he quickly waved his hand.

"Don't mind me", he spoke up shyly. "Got something in the wrong pipe."

Naofumi narrowed his eyes in suspicion but the rest got redirected their attention back towards Nox.

"Be it as it may", he spoke, "as you already have a class, the registration is finished. With this you are now officially adventurers. The guild looks forward to your continued patronage."

"Likewise", responded Ji-Han and the crowd of people dispersed. "Now let's see what kind of jobs they have…"

"What about that suspicious guy", Naofumi inquired quietly. "Who is he?"

"The guy who choked?" Asked Ji-Han, glancing towards the person in question who had gotten a towel to wipe up the drink he had spilled. "He's called Satou, Kazuma. Level: 8. Class: Adventurer. Title: Lucky Thief. Why? You really think he's suspicious?"

Kazuma had finished cleaning up and looked up, met Ji-Han's eyes and then quickly looked away.

"He's a Japanese guy in a western Fantasy world who recognized your class and then tried to cover it up", Naofumi pointed out. "Suspicious doesn't even begin to describe it."

"That is true", Ji-Han conceded. "But what are we supposed to do about that? My only stealth-skill is Hidden Key and that is only for Heartless. Unless you want to confront him, we can't really do anything about it."

"…You are right", admitted Naofumi. "We'll have to confront him."

With that Naofumi went towards Kazuma. Ji-Han could only let out a half-hearted "wait" while Shua was already running ahead. Their target meanwhile was staring intensively at his drink, doing his best to pretend he hadn't noticed their approach. That even continued when Shua was tugging on his sleeve. But once Naofumi addressed him directly, he couldn't pretend anymore:

"Oi, what do you know about the Gamer?"

Kazuma sighed and looked up to him.

"You are not going to leave me alone until I answer, won't you?"

"No."

Kazuma sighed again.

"Okay, but not here. Let's go somewhere else."

They waited patiently while Kazuma paid for his meal and then followed him out the guild building and into a near yet secluded alley.

"That should be enough", declared Kazuma as he turned around. "Now, before I am answering your question, I want to clear something up first. You." With that he pointed towards Ji-Han. "Are you the guy with the Keyblade?"

Ji-Han was dumbfounded.

"How do you know about that?" He inquired and Kazuma snorted.

"Of course I know about it", he proclaimed. "Finally we've got something that can kill Heartless for good. The BBS is all over you, you know."

BBS? Wait.

"You are a member of the Hero Union?!" Exclaimed the Gamer excitedly and Kazuma nodded.

"Active Hero, Lucky Thief of the Kingdom of Belzerg, that's me. But don't spread it around."

"Huh? Why?" Wondered Ji-Han. "Do the people here have something against the Hero Union?"

"That's not it", refuted Kazuma. "But this world gets a bunch of people reincarnated as heroes, who all become members of the Hero Union because they all get the same mission: Defeat the Demon Lord. But when I was supposed to pick my cheat, I messed up and ended up with that useless goddess instead. So now I don't want people to pester me about the demon lord when I can't even defeat a giant frog without someone acting as bait."

"That is understandable", exclaimed Naofumi. "Unless you decide to move against us, I think we can agree not to tell anyone."

"Thanks", responded Kazuma. "But since we are already talking, you should tell the guild that you've got the Keyblade. They should pay a lot more for you killing Heartless if you tell them you can kill them permanently."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han. "Thanks for the tip."

"Oh and…" Kazuma continued but then hesitated for a moment. "…Can I join your party while you are here?"

"Huh?" Ji-Han exclaimed dumbfounded. "Why? Don't you have a party?"

"We are currently acting separate because Beldia has scared off all the weak monsters", he explained. "And the Heartless are a nightmare to fight against with our party. They mostly ignore our Crusader and rather go after our Arch Priest who has trouble hurting them at all. Our Arch Wizard cannot hit them without hitting us and it's too dangerous for me on my own. But if this continues, I'll end up using up all of my savings. For now I still have a small buffer, but if you have nothing against it, I would like to increase it while I got the chance. So, can I join you for now?"

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Grinding for Money: Who Doesn't Want to Be a Millionaire?

Being a hero is not always fun, especially if you don't have enough money.

Help Satou Kazuma gain at last 100 000 Munny by defeating heartless and monsters, be it directly or through selling drop items, before you close the keyhole.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 200 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.  
2: Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 500 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.  
3: Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 1 000 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.  
4: Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 10 000 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.

Completion Award: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Increased reputation with Satou Kazuma.  
Decreased reputation with Aqua, Megumin and Dustiness Ford Lalatina.

Bonus Award:  
1: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (inferior).  
Increased reputation with Satou Kazuma.  
2: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (normal).  
Increased reputation with Satou Kazuma.  
3: +4 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (superior).  
Increased reputation with Satou Kazuma.  
3: +10 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (premium).  
Increased reputation with Satou Kazuma.

Completion Failure: +1 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Decreased reputation with Satou Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Dustiness Ford Lalatina.}

But while Ji-Han was distracted by the quest alert, Naofumi responded to Kazuma's question with one of his own:

"And why should we add you? By your own account you are too weak to defeat the Heartless on your own. How do we know you won't just be dead weight? Can you even hurt the Heartless at all?"

"I can", Kazuma insisted, taking out his sword, "Aqua might be a useless goddess, but even she can bless weapons so they can hurt Heartless. And my Ambush-skill still works on them."

"Hey", Ji-Han interjected to get Naofumi's attention. "I got a quest to help him get some Munny with better rewards for more Munny?"

"Seriously?" Inquired Naofumi. "How much?"

"100 000, 200 000, 500 000, 1 000 000 and 10 000 000."

"What about the rewards?"

"In EXP we've got 2 000, then for the next two an added 2 000, for the one after that an added 4 000 and for the last one an added 10 000. Additionally each bonus objective gives us a Manatite Crystal of higher quality. If we fail, we just get 1 000 EXP and a decrease in reputation."

"You really are a Gamer, aren't you?" Noted Kazuma and Ji-Han smirked with a pleased expression on his face.

"I suppose there is no harm in accepting the quest", mused Naofumi. "If he proves useless, we can still kick him out and fail the quest on purpose."

"Hey", complained Kazuma, but Naofumi ignored him.

"Alright, then welcome to the team", Ji-Han told him as he accepted the quest. "Kazuma, [Party Invite]."

"What?" Exclaimed Kazuma surprised at the panel appeared in front of him. "And here I was thinking you were a Gamer before."

PING!

{[Satou, Kazuma] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}

"Okay", exclaimed Ji-Han. "To see your stats say 'Status Window', for your skills 'Skills' and for your perks 'Perks'. Under 'Party Options' you can see the current HP and MP of your party members and activate the 'Voice Chat'."

"[Party Options]. Wow, you actually have a voice chat. Does that mean the thing about getting drop items from defeating Heartless is true, too?"

"Yep."

"Cool. Does it depend on luck?"

"I think so, why?" Kazuma grinned.

"Because luck is my best feature", he proudly declared, making Ji-Han raise his eyebrow.

"Really? How high is it?"

"[Status Window]. Oh, 725."

"Bullshit!" Declared Ji-Han. "There is no way someone who has a level under 10 has a stat of over 700!"

"I already had high luck when I was level 1", he defended himself. "And I am really successful with my Steal."

"Why don't you prove it", suggested Naofumi and Kazuma nodded.

"Alright, here goes!" He shouted and held out his hand towards Naofumi. "[Steal]!"

An orb of glowing light appeared within his hands and after the light receded, revealed a simple leather bag.

"You literally took all the money I had", mused Naofumi as he held out his hand to take his money bag back. "Is that what you meant with your high luck?"

"More or less", confirmed Kazuma. "Steal normally takes a random item the person has on them, even counting clothes and equipment. But because my luck is so high, I take the most important item."

Naofumi narrowed his eyes.

"Are there many people able to use Steal?" He asked and Kazuma shrugged.

"It's one of the basic thief skills", he explained. "That is pretty much a given."

"Then can you try to steal from Ji-Han?" He asked. "I doubt you can steal his Keyblade, but maybe you can bypass his inventory. We also have to take the Guard Armor from Shua."

"Gle, smeargle!" Shua protested but Naofumi had nothing of it.

"You have no pockets to where you could put some random stuff", he pointed out. "Any Steal would automatically target your Guard Armor. If you don't want to lose it against the first thief, you will have to go without it!"

Shua was pouting, but he did as he was told and took of the helmet, making the armor on his body disappear and the helmet transform into the body piece in its original size.

"You even have resizable armor", exclaimed Kazuma surprised, but Naofumi shook his head.

"Only the Guard Armor", he clarified. "It was a rare item drop that has this as its own ability. The rest of his clothes don't. Now the steal?"

"Right", Kazuma acknowledged. "[Steal]!" And suddenly Ji-Han felt a chill around his legs, making him look down.

"Did you just stole my Chinos?!" He exclaimed aghast as Kazuma handed him his trousers back sheepishly.

"At last I didn't stole your underwear", the Lucky Thief pointed out, making Naofumi raise an eye-brow at him while Ji-Han used his inventory to redress himself without his feet leaving the ground.

"Did that already happen?" He inquired, making Kazuma uncomfortable.

"It's not like I am targeting their panties on purpose", he defended himself. But he wouldn't have needed to bother. For the Hero of the Shield was just interested in whether or not he used that to end fights instantly. Which he hadn't, since he was only fighting against monsters. But he did think about stealing someone's weapon so that they wouldn't be able to fight.

"That aside", interrupted Ji-Han as he had put the Guard Armor in his inventory. "We should start on our quests."

"I think today it's a bit late for that", Kazuma mused. "I don't exactly have a clock, but I know it's already afternoon. It should get dark soon."

"Then we should try our own against random Heartless near here", Naofumi suggested. "That allows us to practice fighting together and maybe get some drop items."

"Sounds like a plan", responded Ji-Han while Shua let out an affirmative "Smear".

"Right", acknowledged Kazuma. "We should stumble upon some if we just loiter outside the gates…

Which they did. The Heartless in question being mostly Shadows, Soldier and sometimes a Bizarre Archer, supported by Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies or Yellow Operas. So, practically all Heartless they already fought against. Because of this they had not too many troubles eliminating them. Kazuma meanwhile was fighting like a thief, hiding his presence and then striking at distracted targets, or another warrior, another body to split the attention of the Heartless.

But where Kazuma really excelled, was with the monster drops. He proved that the drop rate was connected to one's LUK, as nearly every enemy decided to spill their guts upon being defeated by Kazuma. In fact, even though those were all enemies they already had fought against, Kazuma had managed to acquire items that had not dropped previously, like the Wolf Yokai Arrow from the Bizarre Archer and Scrap Stainless Steel from the Soldier.

As a result they had decided to split the ownership of Kazuma's drop items in half. 50% going to Kazuma for his high luck drop and 50% going to Ji-Han because without his ability they would be no drop items. To do that Ji-Han paid Kazuma half of what he expected to get if he sold the item, a value calculated out of the base-value that Ji-Han saw with his Observe and his experience with the shops in Traverse Town. If Kazuma got a drop item that he wanted to keep, he would have to pay that half instead.

Though they hit a bit of a snag when it turned out that the lowest piece of currency, the copper coin had the value of 50 Munny, as that meant that they couldn't completely give out the exact value. So whenever they would get a value that wasn't able to be divided by 50, Ji-Han would keep the rest and add it to the next item he "bought" from Kazuma.

But back to the skill Observe, considering how often Ji-Han needed to use it to get the item value, it should come as no surprise that the skill leveled up. Unfortunately there was another skill that made an appearance: Slashing Weapon Mastery. Normally getting new skills was always good, but as the name implied, Slashing Weapon Mastery was like Blunt Weapon Mastery for slashing weapons. Which meant that his new keychain Binary Spirit transformed the Keyblade from a blunt weapon to a slashing weapon. And while that was good if they met enemies resistant to blunt force, he now couldn't use any power up from his skill Blunt Weapon Mastery and had now to grind the other Keyblade separately to get it back up to the damage output of the other weapon. At last Physical Endurance and Breeze of Regeneration were coming along nicely.

Nevertheless, before they could get to more grinding, they stumbled upon another problem:

"Smeargle", Shua tried to get Ji-Han's attention by pulling on his sleeve.

"What is it?" Wondered the Gamer and Shua mimicked a yawn, followed by a real one. "Are you perhaps sleepy?"

"Smear…" He responded and nodded affirmatively.

"Already?" Asked Kazuma. "But it's still bright."

"It's jetlag", Naofumi interjected as if it answered everything.

Which it actually pretty much did. After all, if one world could have multiple time zones; that should definitively hold true between worlds. And Ji-Han also knew how the length of a day varied from planet to planet, too. Heck, Ji-Han knew some stories where not even the actual passage of time was the same, with one year passing in one place while in another only five minutes went by.

And Ji-Han knew that they hadn't slept in Traverse Town before they came to this world, so it wouldn't be surprising if they got tired soon. Especially since they fought so much that Shua had leveled up again. So, yeah, understandable.

"Looks like we'll have to cut it short for today", mused Ji-Han as he turned to address Kazuma, who nodded in response.

"I'll be looking for you tomorrow in the adventurer's guild", he told them. "If you are first, you can already pick out a quest. Just make sure to start with something smaller like Bone Pickers or Houseless instead of a Wyvern or a Dark Sphinx. I am not going to fight against one of those monsters."

"What about the Underground Monkey?" Inquired Naofumi, making Kazuma choke on his own spit.

"Are you crazy?!" He finally shouted. "That thing takes a team of Veteran adventurers to defeat. I am not getting a mile near it."

"Then I really hope this world does not expect us to defeat it", he mused as he turned to Ji-Han. "Because you know my stance on wasting your life."

"As if I could forget", snapped Ji-Han. Even if Naofumi had probably saved his life against Devimon, it still had been a reminder that Naofumi does not _have to_ follow his lead. He just chooses to.

"As long as you remember", the Hero of the Shield responded and turned back to Kazuma. "Do you need an escort or can you get home on your own?"

"I can do that on my own", the Lucky Thief claimed. "As long as it's just hiding from Heartless, I have no trouble on my own."

"Then we will leave now before another group of Heartless shows up while Shua is tired", he decided as he made his way towards the Gamer, who took The Pokémon's hand.

"Right", he agreed. "Then we'll see you tomorrow, Kazuma-Ssi."

"Yeah, bye."

With that they left Kazuma alone and went back to the spaceship. But they did not actually went to sleep as fast as possible. Disregarding that they still hadn't had dinner yet, if they went to bed now, they would be just as tired on the next time at the same time. To combat jetlag it was better to get into the rhythm of the other time zone as much as possible.

Which meant staying awake until it was time to sleep there, too.

And while they did not have a clock for the other world, since it was still light down there. But on the other hand it had been too late to go and look for a quest, so they figured they would be alright, if they went to sleep around one or two hours later.

Naofumi had also send Shua running, so that the physical activity would keep him awake while Ji-Han had decided to grind his Food Preparation with the new stuff they had bought in Traverse Town, as well as with some more pieces of Oumukade Meat. Being on a lucky streak, Ji-Han had then tried for Oumukade Rolled Egg Omelet. The first went well, but the second got burned, reducing the HP it granted to 5 out of the original 15, not to mention make it taste bad.

So he went back to grinding with stuff he didn't mind to or couldn't mess up. That went on until Shua came to him quite dead on his feet. That told Ji-Han to stop for the say, tuck Shua in and then headed to bed himself.

* * *

A/N:

And that's it for this chapter. Since in Traverse Town didn't happen enough for a single chapter, we get part of the second world already. However, first to the new people of Traverse Town: Natsukawa Kuina and Kuroko Tetsuya. The former is not actually a Yokai like Tohko, which makes a lot more funny putting her in the book shop together with the "real deal". Especially after they met Tohko first. And the fact that the opening of Hinako Note literally calls her a "Bungaku Shoujo" makes it all the sweeter.

Kuroko, for those who didn't notice or remember, had already been mentioned once. As the one who taught Akari how to use her low presence in combat, including the Vanishing Dive, which Ji-Han saw her use once. Unfortunately, getting better in stealth was a tragic miscalculation on Akari's part. The only lucky break is that Ji-Han hadn't noticed their connection or he would be off even worse in his presence.

But with Traverse Town out of the way, we now finally get to the second world: Konosuba. Well, technically that's the franchise name but you get it. Though talking about it, if you know what the world of Konosuba is called, I would like you to tell me. I've only ever found it as "Fantasy World". And as it is a world where the Hero Union BBS has a presence, getting the real name would be good for any interaction on the BBS since otherwise I'd have to either make up my own, or go with the largest administrative level. Currently I have chosen to go with the latter for worlds I don't know the name of, because that way people have actually a chance of realizing where that hero is from.

But the same rules preventing people from helping Ji-Han, also prevents the Hero Union from helping the heroes of Konosuba, Kazuma included. Speaking of him, yes, he is our Guest Star Party Member for this world. And the only one at that, as the others really aren't much help against Heartless. And with him looking for easy money, I always wanted to have him the reason for a quest abusing the game mechanics.

Lastly, we've got our first instance of time lag, which had to appear at some point and would definitively appear some more times as they have no idea how late it is in a world before they arrive.

So with that finished, I only want to again advertise the Heart of Akasha Discussions Forum. Even if you do not think you can help me with my story, there should be some topics that interest some of you. Like which characters could show up as Nobodies or members of the Hero Union. Or if you are curious what other characters might show up in Traverse Town (though that one is naturally a lot more spoiler-heavy than the other two). Or just give me some tips on how to improve the forum. I've never done something like that before, so I welcome any well-meaning hint.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	13. Chapter 12: Side Side Quests

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, **merendinoemiliano** and **ThatOneGuyUpstairs**. Also in response to the latter figuring out some stuff that's important to the story as a while, I've added a post in the forum of this story under World Building for those who are interested.

Chapter 12: Side Side Quests

It was still dark outside when they made it down the next day. It was at a time where only those that had to stand up, did so. Generally that meant owners of businesses that awaited costumers as soon as the sun was up. Luckily the guild doubled also as a tavern, which meant that they were open pretty much all the time. Rightfully, as besides them some other people also had decided to come in for an early breakfast. Kazuma himself on the other hand hadn't shown up, so they did as he had suggested and went looking through the quests.

However…

"I forgot I can't read this stuff", exclaimed Ji-Han as he took a piece of paper with the drawing of something resembling a gryphon with the head of an Egypt pharaoh and a scorpion's tail.

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Heartless Sphinx: Does not bother with the Riddle

Thanks to a General of the Demon Lord's Army showing up, most of the monsters near Axel have fled. In their stead now new black creatures show up.

Defeat a [Dark Sphinx] within 5 days.

Bonus Objective:  
Defeat the enemy personally.

Completion Award: +15 000 EXP for every party member.  
A payment of 200 000 Munny divided upon all party members.

Bonus Award:  
A payment of 200 000 Munny divided upon all party members.

Completion Failure: +2 000 EXP for every party member}

Luckily he didn't need to. As far as the specifications of the quest went, he got them all thanks to his Gamer.

"This is for the Dark Sphinx that Kazuma had talked about", Ji-Han explained as he put the quest paper back. "The payment is 200 000 Munny normally and double, if I defeat it."

"So, halfway into Kazuma's quest after we divide it", Naofumi mused. "And yet we had been explicitly warned not to go after that one. What about this one?"

Naofumi pointed towards one depicting a cartoonish-skeleton of black color with the Heartless-symbol on top of its skull carrying around a spear of sharpened white bone.

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Heartless Skeletons: Worse than actual Undead

Thanks to a General of the Demon Lord's Army showing up, most of the monsters near Axel have fled. In their stead now new black creatures show up.

Defeat 15 [Bone Picker] within 5 days.

Bonus Objective:  
Defeat as many of the enemies as possible personally.

Completion Award: +2 000 EXP for every party member  
A payment of 50 000 Munny divided upon all party members.

Bonus Award:  
A payment of 4 000 Munny divided upon all party members for every [Bone Picker] defeated by the Gamer.

Completion Failure: +1 000 EXP for every party member}

"Those are the Bone Picker", Ji-Han relayed. "15 of them go for 50 000 Munny with 4 000 for every one I defeat."

"So between 50 000 and 200 000", mused Naofumi. "That means that after four quests, we have done the minimum requirement for Kazuma's. Unfortunately, we don't know how many days we actually have. What else is there?"

The answers were 7 Killer Bunny for 63 000 Munny 10 Hook Bat for 60 000 Munny, 10 Large Body for the same, 5 Big Jumper for 50 000 Munny, 5 Unlucky Cat for 75 000 Munny and 5 Shaggy Shuck for 100 000 Munny.

"If we go with the amount of Munny one would get for each one", Naofumi calculated. "The danger level goes from Bone Picker to Hook Bat and Large Body to Killer Bunny to Big Jumper to Unlucky Cat to Shaggy Shuck to Dark Sphinx."

"So it's Bone Picker first", mused Ji-Han and he took the quest. Even if getting 15 of them seemed more like a chore, they didn't know how strong any of the enemies on the list were compared to those they already fought. So they had to start small and raise the stakes step by step.

Ji-Han went to the receptionist called Luna, the only receptionist currently behind the counter because of the early hour. A woman with golden eyes and wavy blond hair that, besides the two strands to the sides of her face, had been styled back into a bun. Her white top left her shoulders and cleavage bare, emphasizing her large chest.

"Welcome", she greeted them and Ji-Han's attention wandered to the red ribbon around her neck. "What can I do for you?"

"We would like to accept a quest", he spoke, showing her the piece of paper.

"One of the Heartless quests?" She read. "Even if it is just Bone Picker, I have to ask, are you aware that the danger level of Heartless is above their respective rewards because Heartless cannot be defeated permanently?"

"I know", answered Ji-Han. "That's why I am starting with the Bone Picker in the first place. But speaking of, that does mean we can get a bonus, if we actually defeat them permanently, right?"

Luna looked like she had trouble deciding if he was serious or not.

"Then are you in the possession of a Keyblade?" She wanted to confirm. "It is the only object said to be able to destroy Heartless permanently. And even then we have not been able to find proof of its existence. Do you have any?"

"Well…" Ji-Han summoned Binary Spirit into his hand. "If you'd see me defeat an Emblem-Heartless; that would clear things up pretty easily."

"Why don't you close something?" Suggested Naofumi and Ji-Han's face brightened.

"Right", he acknowledged, "something that has been closed with the Keyblade can only be opened by one. Do you have something you don't mind us using it on?"

But before Luna could respond, black holes appeared around them.

"Heartless!" Luna shouted as she backed away while all around the guild hall people took to their weapons.

"[Power Strike]!" Shouted Ji-Han and obliterated one of the three Soldiers {+23 EXP} while Naofumi used Air Strike Shield to block the attack of one of the two Shadows against a retreating staff member, allowing another adventurer to defeat the black menace.

Shua attacked the second Soldier with a Super Shocker to agro it and later take it down with a well-placed Power Strike of his own {+23 EXP}. Meanwhile the second Shadow and third Soldier were defeated by other adventurers and everybody returned back to business after all the two seconds the fight took.

"Please tell me, you saw that", Naofumi addressed Luna as she returned to her place behind the counter.

"I did", she acknowledged. "Your weapon really does have a different effect on Heartless than anything else." Yeah, a crystal heart floating into the sky was not something you saw every day. "I cannot make any promises yet, but we should be able to give you a bonus for each of the Heartless in the quest Ji-Han himself defeats. Unless you also happen to have a Keyblade?"

"Nope, I am the only one", responded Ji-Han cheerfully. "I am awesome like that."

"You can say that once you are able to defeat a Soldier without a Power Strike", Naofumi commented and Ji-Han bristled. It wasn't his fault that his Gamer decided to separate blunt and slashing weapons. And he still could defeat a Soldier without using a skill no problem. It just took longer.

"We should get some merchandise then", suggested Ji-Han and Naofumi nodded.

"We should", he agreed. "In fact, let's do that now since our last party member has yet to appear."

Since neither Ji-Han nor Shua had anything against it, that was what they did. By the time they got back to the guild building, they had gained a Shadow underneath Naofumi's mantle, a Wooden Arrow from one of the defeated Bizarre Archers, 2442 EXP each, one surprise-level in High Jump and two levels in Slashing Weapon Mastery. And it seemed Kazuma had already arrived, considering the wailing of "Kazuma!" that greeted them upon entrance.

The origin of this voice was a woman shaking down the aforementioned hero.

The woman in question was so beautiful that it should be impossible, with white fairytale skin, clear blue eyes, long smooth flowing-hair which on top of her head had been styled into a stylistic ring, held there by one large blue and two smaller yellow marbles. She wore an indigo vest, a mini-skirt of a brighter blue, white knee socks mostly vanishing in the high blue boots and white detached sleeves leaving a small part of her upper arms bare.

Yet the most surprising feature of her was the fact that only question marks were above her head:

[-ˀ?ˀ-  
LV? ˀ?ˀ]

Just what was Kazuma's relation to such a powerful character?

Ironically, the question was answered right afterwards as the woman continued to shake him.

"How could you do this?!" She shouted while she did so. "How could you just leave us and join another party?! I thought we were friends! Why can you go out adventuring while I have to work at the shop?!"

"We had already seen the signs", exclaimed a tall woman with light blue eyes and yellow hair styled in a ponytail. She wore armor of mostly yellow color that switched between cloth and metal with a feathery-looking shoulder guard on the right.

[-Crusader-  
LV22 Dustiness Ford, Lalatina]

"He was saying he tried to catch the latest gossip, but in the end he truly was looking to join another party. This feeling… I don't like it…"

"Hey, Kazuma", finally said the last member of the little group calmly. "I thought you had finally come to understand the greatness of Explosion Magic? Was that all a lie?"

Completing the trifecta of primary colors, the young girl wore red clothes underneath her black cloak with golden trim, as well as her a large black witch-hat with two buttons as eyes and a cloth added around the whole hat that gave it the resemblance of a mouth when looked at from the front. She also wore black fingerless gloves, a chocker, and a loose belt around her waist and a black knee-high stocking on her left leg, while the right had been wrapped in with bandages. Her left eye was hidden behind a red eye-patch with a yellow cross, but the right one was of a red color, both formed by her black hair which at both sides reached further than the trim of her cloak.

[Crazy-Headed Girl  
-Arch Wizard-  
LV28 Megumin]

It was then that Ji-Han realized, where he knew these names from: They were the people mentioned in the quest as those that would dislike him if he joined with Kazuma! And the reason they would dislike him was because they were Kazuma's original party members. The party members, not able to fight against Heartless.

"Oi, are you finished?" Interrupted Naofumi the quarrel, redirecting their attention towards him. "We have places to be."

The blue-haired girl, Aqua, if Ji-Han remembered correctly, let go of Kazuma and marched towards him.

"So you are the one who trying to steal Kazuma away?" She accused him, making him frown. He looked like he wanted to retort something, but thought better of it. Instead he simply walked past her completely ignoring her. Naturally that enraged her.

"Hey!" She shouted and made to go after the Hero of the Shield but Ji-Han stopped her.

"It's okay", he told her. "We are not going to steal him away. It's just a temporary alliance until we manage to close the keyhole."

"The keyhole?" She repeated confused. "You mean the one that's above the entrance of the guild building?"

WOOOSH!

You could hear the wind being displaced as Naofumi spun around to stare at the blue-haired girl. Ji-Han didn't fare any better.

"You know where the keyhole of the world is?" He asked her incredulous and she puffed her chest out with pride.

"Of course I know", she claimed. "I am the goddess Aqua, after all."

Ji-Han missed how Kazuma groaned. A goddess? That would explain her high level. But why was a goddess not able to defeat Heartless? You would think something holy would at last get rid of them temporarily.

"I didn't see any keyhole when we entered", pointed Naofumi out as he walked towards the goddess. She just huffed in response.

"Of course you wouldn't", she responded condescendingly. "Do you really expect the world to show the keyhole to its heart that easily?"

"But you can tell where it is", he continued. "That means we can directly go to it without having to proof ourselves, doesn't it?"

But Ji-Han wasn't so sure about that.

"I… I don't think that's a good idea", he spoke up hesitantly. Naofumi looked at him questioningly.

"Why?" He wondered. "I thought you of all people would want to close the keyhole as fast as possible."

"The last time I saw someone forcing themselves to the keyhole, my world got destroyed", Ji-Han explained. "And we just had to fight against Heartless inside the building. I don't think revealing it before the world is ready, is a good idea."

"If you think so", conceded Naofumi nonchalantly. "You are the boss. I am just here to make sure you survive."

He turned back to address Kazuma:

"Are you coming?"

"Right", the Lucky Thief broke from his stupor and went to join them.

"I'll be back later", he said his goodbyes to Aqua and the rest of his party as he walked out of the door with Ji-Han's. "Where to now?"

"We've decided on the Bone Picker", the Gamer explained. "Do you know any spots where they show up?"

"That would be the graveyard where we met Wiz", Kazuma suggested. "Let me guide you there."

* * *

PING!

{You have entered a different territory.}

"What the-", Ji-Han couldn't help but shout out in surprise.

PING!

{You have entered Aqua's Graveyard Sanctuary.}

{Not having protection against holy, the effectiveness  
of all the Soul-, Shadow- and Rot-Elemental abilities of  
you, [Iwatani, Naofumi], [Shua] and [Satou, Kazuma]  
have been reduced by 99%.}

"Are you guys seeing what I am seeing?" Kazuma asked and Ji-Han looked over to him.

"You got a message, too?" He asked and Kazuma nodded.

"So your Gamer not only shows the effects of areas claimed by other people", surmised Naofumi, "it also gives the information to all party members entering the territory."

"I wouldn't say she claimed this graveyard", noted Kazuma. "But she does send the restless souls of the departed here to the afterlife each morning. But for that to still linger… I guess she is a goddess, after all."

"Speaking of", remembered Ji-Han. "Didn't you say, she is useless against the Heartless? As a goddess, shouldn't she be pretty effective, even if she can't deal with them permanently?"

Kazuma shook his head.

"We thought so, too. But purification doesn't work against Heartless at all. Even though they are supposed to be corrupted hearts."

"Looks like the Keyblade really is the only thing to purify them", mused Ji-Han, only for black portals to open up around them.

"They are here!" Naofumi called out as they gathered in a circle back to back. Four Bone Pickers and two Shadows showed up and Ji-Han instantly used [Observe] on the former.

{Bone Picker Lv12  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 100/100  
MP: 80/80  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Bones  
Elemental Resistances: Fire (0.5), Water (0.75), Ice (0.5),  
Air (0.5), Lightning (0.5), Earth (0.75), Leaf (0.25),  
Shadow (0.25), Darkness (0.5), Bones (0.75), Blood (0.75),  
Rot (0), Poison (0), Shell (0.75), Time (0.1)  
A Heartless commonly found in graveyards. Its funny look  
only makes its tendency to impale its prey more disturbing.  
STR: 20 VIT: 12 DEX: 15  
INT: 10 WIS: 10 LUK: 10}

"Level 12", read Ji-Han out loud. That would normally seem easy, however… "What's with all the resistances?! At last None, and Fight still work." And that was all he could tell his party members, before the Heartless attacked and his focus was needed elsewhere.

"[Guard]!" Activated Ji-Han to block the attack. Unfortunately, since the enemy was stabbing with his spear, Ji-Han failed to bring his Keyblade into the right position and he was impaled.

{-8}

Not that it did much damage.

"[Power Strike]!" Shouted Ji-Han as he bashed in the skull of the skeleton, freeing its heart in the process. {+125 EXP} Then he moved out of their formation towards the next Bone Picker. Kazuma had already activated [Ambush] to skulk around and attacked one of the Shadows from behind. He managed to do so twice, until the Heartless wised up and flattened itself on the ground, forcing Kazuma to disengage and hide himself again.

Shua meanwhile was using his small size to duck under the spear of another Bone Picker and eliminated it with a Power Strike of his own. {+125 EXP} Unfortunately that made him with the second Shadow coming up behind him, but Naofumi whacked it with the rope from his Rope Shield, redirecting its attention towards him. That made it the second Heartless to attack him, but like the third Bone Picker, it didn't really present any danger to the Hero of the Shield.

The last Bone Picker, however, the one that Ji-Han was currently running towards, did not stab in Ji-Han's direction, but towards the ground. Which could only mean one thing.

"Watch your steps!" He send through their voice chat and a panicked "Smeargle" made him look towards his non-human companion in worry. Fortunately his warning had come in time and the cry was not one of distress but surprise at the sudden bone spike coming out of the ground that Shua just barely avoided.

Seeing that everything was alright there, he refocused on the enemy in front of him, who had immobilized himself with the attack. Smirking, Ji-Han did not use another Power Strike on the Heartless, but instead a flurry of normal attacks, to see how much a Bone Picker could take. The answer was two. {+135 EXP}

{+7 EXP}

And that was Kazuma dealing the last blow on his Shadow, leaving only one Shadow and one Bone Picker with Naofumi.

"I'll prep the Bone Picker for Kazuma", Ji-Han called out and with a "Right!" and "Smear!" the other two damage dealer of the party went after the Shadow, Kazuma with his sword and Shua with Super Shocker. Ji-Han attacked the Bone Picker with a normal attack twice and then avoided all the retributive strikes while the other two dealt with the Shadow. {+7 EXP}

But suddenly the Bone Picker stopped following Ji-Han and instead summoned a long spear in his off-hand and threw it towards the surprised Gamer.

"[Dodge Roll]!"

But Ji-Han had still the present of mind to avoid the attack. And then Kazuma was upon the Bone Picker, adding the finishing touches. {+135 EXP}

"Oh", voiced Kazuma. "I've leveled up… wait, 10?! Hadn't I been level 6 before?!"

"From my point of view you always had been level 9", Ji-Han revealed and Kazuma looked at him in surprise.

"Really? It seems like your Gamer operates differently than the mechanics of this world…" Kazuma tipped on the panel in front of him while Shua brought Ji-Han a plastic bag of… Fish Bone Meal (1kg, 3-16-0)? Looks like that is what the Bone Picker drop.

"What are Kazuma's drops?" He asked Shua who pointed at the two plastic bags in front of Kazuma, as well as the two Lucid Shards the Lucky Thief had pulled out upon that question. A quick round of Observe and Kazuma was 7 350 Munny richer. And then Ji-Han gave Naofumi one bag of bone meal to absorb.

"Alright", declared Ji-Han. "Three to five times this and we'll have finished our mission. The Bone Picker are pretty weak, so that shouldn't be a problem unless they get support from a tougher enemy. Otherwise we'll just have to make sure to always move to avoid the spikes from the ground."

"Don't forget the thrown spears", added Naofumi. "In general the Bone Picker are weak but have the ability to attack everywhere on the battlefield." He transformed his shield into the wooden seed cannon. "I'll try to monopolize the attention of as many of them as possible while you deal with the rest."

Ji-Han nodded.

"That sound like the best strategy", he agreed. "Let's do it that way."

* * *

Just like Ji-Han predicted, it took them four more battles until they managed to defeat 15 Bone Pickers, though in the end they eliminated 18 in total, exactly half of them by Ji-Han's Keyblade. And when they did, the day was still young, so they decided to get a second job. And to save the travel times, Ji-Han went with Shua, using the teleporters of his spaceship. Something that was only possible this time, as it just so happened that they had defeated enough together without Kazuma. If they needed the adventurer's card from the Lucky Thief as proof of the defeat, they would have had to go the long way.

At that Kazuma had asked, why they couldn't bring him with them up on the spaceship. But Ji-Han hadn't wanted to risk it. Even if Kazuma didn't plan on defeating the demon lord, he was still a hero of this world. And the Keeper of Balance of the last world had announced their displeasure in someone taking away one of their Chosen, no matter for how long. Who knew how this world felt about it?

So Ji-Han and Shua went together instead, getting the awards and then trying to get a mission that was not too far away from their current place. The quests [Desert Bandits: Charge while Large] and [Goddamned Bats: Just as Annoying in Real Life as in a Game] had unfortunately already been taken, so that they had to jump over that level of difficulty and go with [Rabbit of Caerbannog: Don't Dismiss the Bunnies] instead.

Though they decided to take a little rest and eat something first. Which was how Kazuma got his first taste of Half-Burned and Half-Overcooked Oumukade Toast. He was a bit disgruntled that he had to eat something that had "half-burned" in its name, but they couldn't just threw it away. And he got it for free, as Naofumi was sure to remind him. To which Kazuma proclaimed that someone who gave others stuff to eat, should at last taste-test the stuff beforehand.

What followed was an argument about eating, cooking and how it worked with his Gamer. Though Ji-Han was really just arguing for the sake of it and he had a feeling, Kazuma was the same. But he did manage to get Ji-Han to eat some of his half-good stuff to heal the meager HP he had lost in the fights against the Bone Pickers.

As for the taste… let's just say it had been a good idea to mix the good and bad stuff.

After their meal they continued onwards, towards a forest, where Kazuma had heard of the appearance of Killer Bunnies. And soon enough, they were surrounded by three of these things, supported by three Shadows and one Creeper Plant, so Ji-Han quickly used [Observe].

{Killer Bunny Lv22  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 300/300  
MP: 300/300  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Fight  
Elemental Resistances: None (0.8), Fight (0.75), Stone (0.5), Bones (0.5)  
This Heartless may look cute, but it has a mean hook.  
It's a cheap fighter that attacks with any of his long body parts.  
STR: 20 VIT: 24 DEX: 36  
INT: 10 WIS: 23 LUK: 25}

"Careful Shua", warned Ji-Han the Pokémon of the white bipedal bunnies with long ears and a brown Heartless-Emblem on their back, "they are Fight-elemental Heartless with high DEX and resistance to Fight and normal attacks!"

Not only were these guys "super-effective" towards Shua, they were also resistant towards their best attacks. They were quite dangerous for the Smeargle, so Ji-Han went on the attack in haste. He swung down his Keyblade onto the nearest Killer Bunny – and promptly got one bad surprise as the attack failed to do any damage.

The Heartless had brought both his long ears down in a cross-formation, completely stopping the Keyblade in its tracks. Then it pushed against the Keyblade and threw it back, as well as his arm, leaving him completely open when the bunny jumped and rammed its knee into his chin. {-17}

While the damage was pretty negligible, the force of the attack knocked Ji-Han off his feet and flying onto his back. Which wouldn't have been that much of a problem, if a second one hadn't decided to jump up and dive towards his head with the right leg outstretched.

"[Guard]!" Shouted Ji-Han and now it was his turn to block the enemy's attack and throw the opponent off his feet.

But before he could capitalize on the opportunity, pain seared through his chest and three wooden spikes pierced through it from the ground.

PING!

{Critical Damage!}

{-215}

{You have been afflicted with [Impaled 40].}

Wood? The Creeper Plant! {-8} The wooden spikes vanished, freeing Ji-Han in the process, but he still could not get up as a Shadow jumped at him. So he quickly rolled to the side instead, pushed himself up and lunged at the Shadow, eliminating it in one strike and dropped a Lucid Shard. {+7 EXP}

"Smeargle!"

But Ji-Han completely forgot about that when Shua shouted out in distress. As Ji-Han turned in his direction, he saw how two of Bunnies had decided to change targets towards the Pokémon. And while Naofumi had managed to block one attack with an Air Strike Shield, the second came from behind with a flurry of strikes with his ears, while the third one attacked the Hero of the Shield himself.

Kazuma had gotten the attention of the two other Shadows, but seeing that the others needed support, decided to [Ambush] the Killer Bunny blocked by Air Strike Shield. But that made this one jump into the air, make a somersault backwards and then drop an axe kick down onto the Lucky Thief's head, sending him sprawling on the ground.

But when Ji-Han went to help him, he was, once again hit by wooden spikes from the Creeper Plant, he had forgotten about. {-43} Since he was on his feet, he could use High Jump to get off them unlike the time before, but it still stalled him coming to help.

"That's it!" He decided. "[Inventory]!"

This would only kill one of them, but that one was one they wouldn't have to bother about anymore!

"[Card Summoning]!" He called out and pointed the item in his hand, the Nameless Class Card towards the Killer Bunny near Naofumi. But one thing about it was different. The black scar on the front was gone, revealing the profile of a female archer with a red dress, aiming towards the left side.

And as soon as Ji-Han spoke the words, the card glowed and on the ground in front of the Gamer appeared a red-glowing magical circle. Then an actual person materialized instead of it and instantly all the Heartless stopped in their tracks and turned towards the new figure.

It was a young man with spiky white hair, a black top and trousers leaving his chest bare, white baggy pant sleeves, hold up only by suspenders. But most interesting where his eyes, as they held to emotion in them, like they were just painted on.

The new figure then threw his swords into the air and the Heartless moved. But only one Killer Bunny went after him. The other Heartless decided to continue their assault on Ji-Han's comrades. Which was when the newcomer rushed to meet his designated foe. Only he did so with twice the speed and a sword in each hand.

Before the Killer Bunny could defend itself, the newcomer had already stroke at it with his right sword while passing it, then spun around to the left and while doing so, hit the Killer Bunny backwards with the other sword, evaporating it. Then he threw both of the sword towards the Creeper Plant, eliminating it, jumped up to grab the two of the airborne swords closest to the ground and brought them down onto the second Killer Bunny, leaving only one of them.

That one was still trying to harass Shua and was thus completely unprepared when the summoned guy pierced through its back with both of his weapons. Which left only the Shadows, who were hounded by the newcomer and quickly disposed of.

Once the last Heartless had been defeated, the figure stopped dead in their tracks, just keep standing there. The swords it had brought with them, some of them even yet to hit the ground, vanished into golden motes of light one after another. And then he himself, dispersed like that, too, casting an eerie silence into the forest.

"What was that?" Exclaimed Kazuma finally. "You can summon some sort of guardian, too?"

"That was Tyr", Ji-Han explained. "I've got this [Archer Class Card], which allows me to connect to a specific Heroic Spirit, as in a person who was famous in their life. With the skill Card Summoning I can summon them to help me. But… he didn't do this the last three times. Normally he's jumping with the swords and lets them all drop down on top of a single enemy. That's the first time he went in close-quarter combat against all of them. And he was faster, too. I wonder what happened…"

"Smeargle, smeargle", Shua added enthusiastically and gestured with his hands through the air, the right one holding his tail.

"Yeah?" Asked Ji-Han. "What is it? Your level is still the same…"

Shua stared at Ji-Han, before rolling his eyes. Then he looked like he got an idea and began to smirk. He walked over to Ji-Han and motioned for him to bend down. The Gamer did so and Shua instantly colored Ji-Han's forehead indigo.

"Wha-", explained Ji-Han surprised, before Shua happily skipped a few places away, before drawing something on the ground. The symbol was like a small square standing on its tip surrounded by a pointy "C".

Ji-Han looked at the symbol but…

"…What was that supposed to mean?"

He had no clue.

"Shua probably wants to tell us that this symbol appeared on top of Tyr's forehead", Naofumi guessed and Shua made happy Smeargle-noises while nodding.

"Huh, so that's what you meant. You didn't need to paint my forehead though, did you?"

Shua just smirked at him.

"Does that mean you'll be using this summon more often?" Kazuma changed the topic. "Now that it's turned out to be more powerful?"

"It still cost me nearly all of my MP", Ji-Han pointed out. "And I am sure you noticed, but we didn't get any EXP from it. And as long as we haven't figured out why it suddenly got stronger, I can't depend on it."

"Don't tell me you can only is it once a day", Kazuma nearly pleaded and Ji-Han shook his head.

"My MP regen is 11 per minute and the Card Summoning cost 500." He revealed. "So if I don't do anything else, I'll be good in under 50 minutes."

"Which still makes it a last resort that has to be used before Ji-Han uses any other ability", Naofumi pointed out. "And since he just had to use it on common mobs, I fear for his survival in this world."

Ji-Han flinched.

"They surprised me", he defended himself. "Normally Heartless are not that coordinated or good in close-quarter combat!"

"That is actually a good point", conceded Naofumi. "Heartless are beings of instinct. That is the first time we met one that is able to guard and counter to this extend. Just hitting them won't be enough."

"I could try Guard Break", suggested Ji-Han and Naofumi agreed.

"As long as you learn to use it only when the enemy is blocking", he added. "Otherwise its Fight-element will make it weaker than a normal attack with your Data sword. You also might want to use up some of your points for DEX to keep up with them."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han and opened his [Status Window]. The Killer Bunnies had around 36 DEX, so if he used 11 points for DEX to bring it up to 40, he should be set for now. He then, since he was at it, used 1 point for WIS, bringing it up to 30 to increase his MP regen by 1. With that he was ready to take on the next group of Killer Bunnies.

* * *

"[Guard Break]!" Shouted Ji-Han as he brought the Keyblade onto the Killer Bunny. With it he was able to easily cleave the Heartless in half, freeing the heart inside of it. {+412 EXP} Increasing the DEX and activating Guard Break when they were blocking, really did the job. It was still a bit difficult to deal with them when they were on the attack, but as soon as they decided to block him, it was an instant game-over for them. After all, whenever Guard Break broke through a defense, it always turned into a Critical Hit.

Ji-Han turned around to see Naofumi blocking the attacks of another Killer Bunny, the last of the current group of Heartless as well as the last one needed for the quest.

"Oi, Kazuma", he called out. "I'll weaken him so try and get the last attack!"

Ji-Han did as he said and went after the Killer Bunny. As soon as he hit the Heartless, it changed targets from the Hero of the Shield to him. Ji-Han [Dodge Roll]ed and [High Jump]ed out of the way of its attacks and slashed at it in return as soon as the opportunity arose. Once he did so twice, he completely disregarded attacking and let Kazuma whittle away the last of the Killer Bunny's HP instead. However…

"…No drop item?" Exclaimed Ji-Han in surprise as the Killer Bunny vanished. He already knew that these Heartless dropped items, heck, both he and Shua had gotten Angora Rabbit Wool (500g, 70%, white) after defeating one and their LUK was pitiful compared to Kazuma's.

"Looks like the Killer Bunnies don't like you", claimed Naofumi and Kazuma gave him an angry look.

"Just you wait!" He proclaimed. "I will get a drop item from them!"

"Then let us continue for now", Ji-Han suggested. "I don't think we can start another quest today, so we might as well stay here until Kazuma got the drop items."

Which turned out to be the right decision, as Kazuma managed to get 100% pure Angora Rabbit Wool by defeating his next two Killer Rabbits, which Ji-Han didn't. He just got another 70%, which the Lucky Thief also did.

After paying Kazuma for his drop items, they decided to stop. They had already completed the conditions for the quest and currently Ji-Han had barely over 1000 Munny, meaning that even if Kazuma got them more item drops, they would not be able to buy them off him, until he got some Munny back. Either through the reward money or by selling the drop items.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just go to Traverse Town and sell them there. Even if the journey of four hours to and back was acceptable, they had no idea when an event where they could proof their intentions to the world would happen. It would be bad if something were to happen while they were away and they had to wait for the next one. Not to mention the still didn't know how fast the time flied in this world compared to Traverse Town. So they couldn't risk it. Luckily this was a Western Fantasy world, so they had all the shops Traverse Town had if they got to the city of Axel.

Which of course meant that on the way back, they ran into enough Heartless for Kazuma to get too many drop items. Which meant that they had make a list of the items which of the items in Ji-Han's inventory still belonged to Kazuma halfway. Naofumi decided on this, because if they could not sell enough items in this world, Kazuma would have to pay for their half of the items and take the items instead, or completely forgo his right on them.

But first came the reward for the completed quest:

"Here you go", spoke Nox, the receptionist. "63 000 Munny for the completion of the quest, as well as 108 000 Munny for defeating 12 Killer Bunnies permanently."

Twelve? So the bonus objective didn't cap at the original number? Good to know. Still, had he really defeated that many Killer Bunnies himself? Seemed a bit much…

Nevertheless, if they said so, it was most likely right. Ji-Han gave Kazuma his cut and then let the Lucky Thief lead him to the first of many shops. The bulk they sold at a Smithy, meaning most scrap metal and the arrows. The bone meal they sold at a flower shop as fertilizer and the rabbit wool at a clothes shop. That only left the Creeper Root and the elemental shards, the former which did not really sell for much in the first place and the latter which only Zelretch had wanted to buy. And he had yet to come back to them and tell them for what they were good.

They did find a Leon Shop to their surprise, but a sign at the front said they only bought stuff naturally occurring in this world and that people travelling through the multiverse were supposed to go to Traverse Town instead.

That meant that they had done everything that they could do for the day.

"What are we going to do now?" Kazuma asked afterwards. "Fighting against random Heartless like yesterday? Just like yesterday it is still too bright to call it a day but too late for another quest."

Ji-Han hesitated.

"No", he finally replied. "I'll have to… study."

"What?" Kazuma exclaimed dumbfounded and Ji-Han had to smile at that.

"I can increase my INT when I study", he explained. "It's incredible boring but doesn't take any of my stat points. And with a higher INT, my Max-MP increases, too. And if that is high enough, I can actually use other abilities and still have enough for Tyr."

"I see", mused Kazuma. "Then see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

* * *

"Alright", declared Ji-Han, "let's see what they have today…"

The Gamer stood in front of the notification board and looked at the available quests, specifically the ones with Heartless. There was nothing that would stop him from taking on one of the normal quests, except the fact that the Keyblade was the only thing that could deal with Heartless permanently and that he didn't want to take away this opportunity for the people of Axel.

From the day before the quests for Big Jumpers, Shaggy Shucks and the Dark Sphinx were still there. But they added one for a [Wyvern] worth 150 000 Munny, one for 10 [Houseless] worth 50 000 Munny and…

"Oh, my god", Ji-Han exclaimed exited. "They've got Two-Story Toys!"

…One for 5 [Two-Story Toy] worth 45 000 Munny.

"Seriously?" Voiced Naofumi exasperated. "You are still fixated on those stupid plushies?!"

"It's not my fault my ability decided to put collectables in it", Ji-Han defended himself. "The way these things work, I'll definitively get something once I've collected enough of them!"

"That doesn't mean it will be something useful", Naofumi pointed out. "And besides, for Kazuma to get the advantage of his high drop rate, he first had to defeat the Heartless. Did you forget how high the VIT of the Two-Story Toy is?"

Ji-Han grumbled. But Naofumi was right. While the idea of grinding for Plushie Coupons with Kazuma's high LUK did sound appealing, it wouldn't work if Kazuma couldn't harm the Heartless in the first place.

"Alright", conceded Ji-Han. "Let's forget that idea for now. Which leaves... the Houseless or the Big Jumpers. Though the Big Jumpers seem to be even more dangerous than the Two-Story Toys… Houseless it is."

It was a bit disheartening to see all these different kind of Heartless that Ji-Han could not yet go against. Maybe he would be able to deal with them if he came back later. For now he sat down to study until Kazuma came while Naofumi went to the counter to register the quest and Shua joined him. The day before he had managed to level up his INT twice. At 25 it was still his weakest stat, but at last his Max-MP was now at 525.

Half an hour later and Kazuma arrived, signaling the end of the study-period and the start of their quest. The rest of the day was just like the last one. They would look for Heartless, fight against them and defeat them. Once they had enough to complete their quest, Ji-Han and Shua would go back to the guild building, cash in their reward and then come back with a second quest, the quest for Two-Story Toys in this case.

Naofumi had rolled his eyes, but at that point it was the quest with the least highest danger level and Kazuma had leveled up and put his points into STR, so he couldn't complain. Unfortunately that still didn't help too much against the Two-Story Toys so in the end it was Ji-Han and Shua who took down most of them. Not to mention that Ji-Han had also gotten a level up and, with Keyblade Mastery reaching level 40, the skill Stealth. It was like his Gamer wanted to tell Kazuma how much better it was than him.

Regardless, they ended up fighting against those Heartless until it got dark and they were forced to stop. The results were, besides a bunch of Vendor Trash and Ji-Han getting another level, 6 additional Plushie Coupons. When asked by Kazuma, what the deal with him and stuffed animals was, Ji-Han explained about the collectables-aspect and proudly presented him the [Gamer's Agumon Cotton Plushie (25 cm)]. Like its name told, an item that was literally only available thanks to his Gamer-ability and so far the only one of its kind.

But when asked to show off the use of one of the Plushie Coupons, Ji-Han was hesitant. The reason for that was, because the current world was just around 2 hours from Traverse Town away. If he used up all the Plushie Coupons, he could easily get back to this world opposite to what would happen if they ran out in a place a lot further away. That was the same reason why he had not yet used one in Traverse Town, too.

And besides, he already planned to come back later once he got some more levels under his belt and deal with the special Heartless he was too weak to fight now like Dark Sphinx and Wyvern. Especially the Underground Monkey, which seemed to be unique for this world, similar to the Guard Armor in Traverse Town. Getting rid of that should help the people in this world a lot. And give him some good loot like most Bonus Bosses.

Unless it wasn't a Bonus Boss in the first place, but then he better have some strong support because they were currently still at the weaker half of the Heartless of this world. He wasn't ready yet to go after the top dog with just his current party members.

But that was a thought for later. At the moment they just had to finish up the day. Which meant getting the quest rewards, selling their drop items and eating dinner. Since they had stopped fighting later than the day before, they did not have any time before bed and just went straight to sleep.

And then the next day…

"Kazumaaaaaaaaa!" Could the voice of the goddess Aqua be heard as they walked into the guild building. "Please take me on a quest, any quest! Even a hard one!"

Apparently it turned out that she was sick of doing part-time work and wanted Kazuma to team up with her again so that she could get some money by completing a quest. And while her friends Megumin and Lalatina, who went by Darkness for some reason, had not the same monetary problems, they would not mind helping Aqua out. But without Kazuma, that would be close too impossible.

As it turned out, while Megumin had a strong skill, able to beat any foe, that was really all she had. And after using it once, she used up so much MP that she would be useless for the rest of the day. So Kazuma, the one with the standard class "Adventurer", was actually the main DPS of the party, discounting those enemies caught in Megumin's Explosion-spell for the day.

"No wonder you thought, he would decide to leave your party for ours", quipped Naofumi, making Aqua stomp angrily towards him.

"You!" She declared. "It's your fault Kazuma isn't helping me! Take responsibility!"

"Oh, shut up", he rebuked her. "The reason he is not partying with you is because you are useless against Heartless. Even though you are supposed to be a goddess."

"How rude", she responded. "I _am_ the goddess Aqua!"

"Really?" For some reason Naofumi smirked. "Then if you are really a goddess and you only want to do a quest to get some money, why don't we do some business instead?"

"Business?" Repeated Aqua. "What kind of business could you have in mind with a goddess like me?"

"I want you to sell us a piece of your hair."

"You are after my body?!"

"Are you even listening? I said I want a piece of hair. Or blood if you prefer that."

"What? Why? What kind of demonic rituals are you planning to do with that?"

"One that gives me a new shield."

Ji-Han was thoughtful.

"You think that will work with Aqua?" He inquired and Naofumi shrugged.

"There is no reason it shouldn't. She's not human. And while I did not get the opportunity to try it with a god before, it worked with Hitomi and Takashi's three little monsters, not to mention Shua himself." At that he summoned the Smeargle Shield to support his point.

"Oho? So you actually want a piece of my hair that badly?" Commented Aqua. "Very well, I might be able to be persuaded to part with some. Just for 10 billion Munny-"

Naofumi interrupted her.

"Get real. No one would pay that much for a single shield that they didn't know the specs of before. Seriously, with how useless you are against the Heartless, your shield might as well be worth just 1000 Munny."

"Hey! At last let me get enough money as I would get from a quest!"

"And how much do you usually get?"

"1 million", she answered. "But that's normally. Now thanks to that stupid Dullahan all the quests that don't involve Heartless are around 5 million! And that's the amount I would need to get if I don't do a quest with Kazuma."

What the- did they really get that much money is this world for completing quests? Ji-Han's current amount of Munny had just once reached over 3 million and then dropped below that when they paid Kazuma for the drop items they couldn't sell just yet like the Lucid Shards. And most of that was from the drop items that they got thanks to Kazuma's high luck. To think one could get so much Munny from completing a single quest in this world…

"1 million is something we could deal with, even if I still think it's too expensive. But 5 million is more than what we can effort. And you have to remember that we need the Munny to save many more worlds from the Heartless Do you want countless people on your conscience because you were greedy?"

"Then… then… got it! You can help us with a quest! You let me keep the reward and only need to pay the difference!"

"Half the difference", Naofumi cut in. "And only if we find a job that we are actually capable of completing. Otherwise you'll have to give us the hair for free!"

"1 million if I can't find a job and you have a deal."

"Deal."

PING!

As Aqua went over to the quest board, Ji-Han was distracted by a panel appearing in front of him.

{A quest has been created.}

{**Quest Alert**

Exploration Quest: Purify the Riverhead Lake

The lake from where the town Axel gets most of its water from has been contaminated.

Purify the Riverhead Lake.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Kill at last 2 Brutal Alligator.  
2: Kill at last 4 Brutal Alligator.  
3: Kill at last 8 Brutal Alligator.

Completion Award: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
You can buy [Water Goddess Hair (1cm³)] from Aqua for 1 000 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with Aqua, Satou Kazuma, Megumin and Dustiness Ford Lalatina.  
Decreased reputation with Mitsurugi Kyouya and his comrades.

Bonus Award:  
1: Manatite Crystal (inferior).  
2: Manatite Crystal (normal).  
3: Manatite Crystal (superior).

Completion Failure: +1 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Decreased reputation with Satou Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Dustiness Ford Lalatina.  
Decreased reputation with Mitsurugi Kyouya and his comrades.}

"Lake Purification?" Ji-Han wondered out loud and Aqua perked up.

"Lake Purification? Where?"

Ji-Han was stunned. Did she just decide to pick out a certain quest, because of an outburst that he only had thanks to his Gamer mentioning the quest?! Did his ability just create a time paradox?! Or did it knew that out of all the possible quests, there would only be one fitting for their circumstances?

Now that he thought about it, how did his Gamer know which people would like which of his actions and which people did not? Often some he had never even heard about. Did, did it do something like a world-wide scan that included the personality of every person every time he got a new quest? He already knew that his power could reach the whole world thanks to the party system but to display such a power for such a simple purpose as to make quests… his Gamer might actually be even more impressive than he originally thought. It made him wonder what would have happened if he got a different power. Would he already be warping space or stop time?

"Here it is!" Exclaimed Aqua as she took the quest and showed it to Kazuma and Naofumi. "Cleaning a lake for 3 million Munny!"

"I see", responded Naofumi. "As a water goddess you should be an expert in purifying water. And with a payment of 3 million, we would only need to pay you 1 million.

"But couldn't Aqua technically do the mission all on her own", Kazuma pointed out. "What does she need you for? Or even me."

"Y-yeah… I guess I could… But those monsters probably won't just sit by and watch me purify their lake. I need someone to protect me until I am done."

"How long do you expect that to take?" Inquired Naofumi. While he most likely could survive any monsters himself, if there were too many, it might become difficult to keep them off Aqua. Especially since besides the monsters there could also appear some Heartless.

Aqua thought about the question.

"Maybe half a day?"

"It might as well take forever!" Shouted Kazuma in rage as he punched the paper violently back onto the board and Aqua begged him to allow the quest.

"How do you even to the whole cleansing thing, anyway?" He asked.

"Huh? I just touch the water and keep using purification magic… Why?"

"All right, Aqua. I think I know how you can do your ritual – no risk, no problem. Wanna give it a try?"

* * *

"This is a cage", noted Aqua blankly and Kazuma nodded.

"Exactly. A cage used to transport monsters, in other words something build to withstand their attacks. If we put you within the cage inside the lake, the water will be purified just from coming into contact with you while you will be completely protected from any attacks the monsters might throw at you. It's perfect!"

"Unless the monster are literally throwing stuff at her", Naofumi pointed out. "Or just teleport into the cage like Heartless are fond to do."

"Actually, I have an idea regarding that", voiced Ji-Han. "[Heart Key: Close]!"

Ji-Han pointed with the tip of the Binary Spirit at the lock of the cage. Light gathered in an orb at the tip, before a beam of light shot towards the keyhole, filling it with light. The sound of something being locked and the glow vanished.

Ji-Han ignored the message saying {[Heart Key: Close]'s Level has risen by 1.}, moved to the cage and pulled back his left hand.

"[Death Claw]", he activated, a black spectral claw surrounded his whole hand and Ji-Han stabbed with it in between the bars. Or at last he tried to, but an invisible barrier stopped his hand.

Ji-Han looked smugly at the surrounding people with Kazuma's party staring at him in awe.

"See?" He asked them. "Keyblade-bullshit for the win!"

"Good", spoke Naofumi. "Just two questions: Can you open it again and does it stop air and water, too?"

Ji-Han stared at the Hero of the Shield in horror. He had yet to develop the counter skill! Imagine if he had done that while Aqua had already been inside! He could have killed her!

Luckily it wasn't that hard to develop a skill if you knew one that did exactly the opposite and had all the tools you needed. So [Heart Key: Open] was born. Furthermore, their testing revealed that air and water, as well as food still could pass through the bars, even if no one could destroy the cage or open it without his help. It seemed when he closed the door, he still left intact all the functions the cage was supposed to have: Keeping things contained inside and protected from the outside while keeping them alive.

So they had no problems with putting the Keyblade-closed cage with Aqua – and Shua for the company – in the lake. Though they had also got a chair to prevent Shua from sitting in the water – he didn't have the immunity to sickness and death from water that Aqua had – and a cart with a horse as well as some sturdy chains so that they could pull Aqua out any time.

While they were waiting for her to do her job, Ji-Han decided to keep Hidden Key active to stall the appearance of the first Heartless. To do that he also meditated at the same time to increase the time it would take for his MP to run out.

After a while Naofumi shook Ji-Han out of his Meditation, signaling that his MP was full again and he should activate Hidden Key again, which had deactivated itself automatically when his MP reached 0.

This they did four times and yet no enemies showed up so far. Even though Hidden Key was not always active and it did nothing to dissuade monsters. Was this place so out of the way that even Heartless did not expect someone to be here?

"Hey, Aqua! How's the cleanup going?" Kazuma shouted towards her during one such pause in Ji-Han's Meditation. "Not getting cold in that lake water? If you want to go to the bathroom or anything, just tell me! I'll let you out of there!"

"It's going fine!" She shouted back. "And I don't need the toilet! Arch-priests don't go to the bathroom!"

Ji-Han snorted. If she had claimed it was because she was a goddess, he would have believed her. But her class? Yeah, no, that was definitively just an excuse.

"It looks like she's doing all right", noted Megumin. "Incidentally, the people of the Crimson Magic Clan do not use the bathroom, either."

Ji-Han couldn't help himself. That was just too perfect.

"I'll have you know that as The Gamer my body is that of a video game character, which means that all food is automatically transferred to HP. Thus since I have received this ability, I have not gone once to the toilet, either."

Naofumi and Kazuma turned to give Ji-Han a look that clearly said "Why the hell are you joining them?!"

"Well, Crimson Magic Clan members were magically engineered, so there!"

Huh, they were? Interesting.

"I'm a Crusader, and we… we… hrr…"

"Don't get into a not-pissing contest with these three, Darkness", Kazuma cut her off. "One of these days we're gonna get a quest that takes more than a few hours. Then we'll see who does and doesn't go to the bathroom."

"P-please stop it! Crimson Clan members really do not use the toilet. But I will apologize, so please stop… Strange, though, that there seems to be no sign of the Brutal Alligators. Well, we can only hope they leave us alone."

"If this world has any sense of irony or humor, you just made it so that they will appear right now", Naofumi pointed out and soon enough, ripples appeared on the surface of the lake. Ripples which came closer to Aqua and soon revealed purple crocodile – sorry, alligator – heads.

"K-Kazuma! Something's coming! A wh-whole bunch of somethings!"

"Calm down!" Ji-Han tried to reassure the distressed Aqua. "Remember what we all tried to get the cage to open? You're safe!"

Still, even though they were currently focused on futilely trying to get into the cage, violently disrupting the water, his quest did have as bonus objectives killing some of the monsters. He might as well see how easy that would be.

"[Observe]." Damn, 54 VIT and 4250 HP? It would be not that easy to defeat them. Maybe it would be better to not to try to go for the bonus objectives.

"Do you think the rest will attack us if we try to take them one by one?" He asked his party member who shrugged.

"How high is their STR?" Naofumi asked back.

"62."

"Then there should be no problems even if they do. And I can use the extra shields."

"Good. But with so many around, it'll be hard to damage them enough without getting into danger. We've got to stick to ranged attacks. [Inventory]!"

Ji-Han took out Tyr's card and with [Card Summoning] he appeared. This time he did what they had expected of him, throwing nine swords into the air while jumping with the tenth and then landing on top of the nearest Brutal Alligator at the same time as the sword impaled it.

The reptile screeched in pain and struggled, only deepening the gashes while the others around it attacked the sudden newcomer, actually biting into him as if he had a physical body. But since Tyr always vanished as soon as his job was done, Ji-Han couldn't tell if the alligators actually managed to inflict enough damage to disperse him some milliseconds earlier. And with him all the sword vanished, too. As for the results…

"2570 HP left", read Ji-Han. "Not even Tyr can get eliminate one of them on his own. Heck, even using him twice would not be enough… they would have still around… 900 left."

"But they aren't coming over", pointed Kazuma out. "And with the two hours the purification already too, I bet it'll still take some more. You should be able to take down at last one of them, if you just mediate."

As if to prove him wrong, black portals appeared around them.

"Heartless!" Naofumi called out and took lifted his shield in front of him. Shadows, Houseless and Blue Rhapsodys. The latters were an issue for the Hero of the Shield as they could freeze him despite his defense. Now Ji-Han wished they would have kept Shua's Fire when he last leveled up. But it had been the weakest of his skills at that point and not the only one not needing MP. They still had Super Shocker for that. Even if its Lightning-Element was not the best idea against the flying Final Fantasy-rejects.

"[High Jump]!"

{+312 EXP}

So instead it was him who had to pick up the slack. Luckily his Slashing Weapon Mastery was already high enough that he could kill one of them in one single normal hit. And with High Jump it was easy enough to reach them, unless they decided to randomly dart around. So letting his comrades deal with the enemies one the ground, Ji-Han quickly went towards the next one.

"[High Jump]!"

Already on the way up, Ji-Han cut the Heartless in half with the power of the Keyblade alone, no overhead-swing necessary for these guys. {+312 EXP} Ji-Han turned around to look at the next target and suddenly came face to face with a young child around six years with fair skin, golden hair, blue eyes and a pair of pointy ears which pointed to the side, slightly flopping downwards instead of reaching towards the sky as Ji-Han was most used to with pointy ears.

Ji-Han's surprise made him loose his balance and he landed hard on the ground, which was not dirt but stone covered with red carpet and a lot closer than before. And as he lay there on the ground, he also noticed that he was not anymore under the open sky but a chamber with the four walls covered in red worn-down curtains with a bunch of people surrounding him from all sides, but still leaving enough space in the middle where he was.

PING!

{You have received a new message.}

Ji-Han was completely confused. Yet before he could do or even think anything else, an old guy stepped forward – the little girl having hurried back and taken cover behind a voluptuous woman – and said the following words:

"Are you the hero who has been summoned to defeat the Demon Lord?"

Ji-Han could only stare at him blankly.

"What?"

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And that's one of the things I really wanted show as it was something that only could be used in this kind of story: Ji-Han suddenly being summoned into another world as a hero. So far I have yet not seen any story where the MC, a hero on a quest, suddenly gets summoned into another world for a different quest. Rightfully so, as constant changing the world like that would make it difficult for the readers to build any attachment to the world and its people. And conflicts would stay unresolved way too often and lose any meaning once the MC repeatedly goes to a different place.

For example, one of the strong points of Tate no Yuusha is everyone making Naofumi's life difficult and how he hardened himself in response. If he suddenly up and vanished, all those conflicts would get pointless at ones. Not to mention the MC would never get to the "defeat the demon king"-part of the story.

Which is why I've been forcing myself to sit down and continue despite the large set-back that forced me to rewrite the whole thing. Because I really wanted to show this stuff only interesting in this setting where getting summoned is more a short side quest than the whole story.

Now as for the summoning itself, why pick this particular world? Because for the first summoning – after all, until he finds out why he gets summoned, there will be more – I wanted a summoning that was pretty straight-forward: You are the Chosen One, defeat the demon king. Guess how often that one shows up outside of the Hero Union BBS. It's actually pretty hilarious when you read an Isekai and the MC goes "oh, summoned like in these Isekai-stories" and you go like "example, please". Maybe I've been born too late but the straightforward summoning that those guy's talk about is something I have yet to see outside doing it for a _side_ character.

I mean, in the have-fun-in-the-new-world-with-your-new-powers-Isekai, the MC at most times does not get summoned but somehow ends up in the world through other means, even if the world has hero summoning like Tensei Slime, Death March, Ore to Kawatz and Where is the way home. Probably because the expectations of a hero would go counter against the do-whatever-you-want kind of mentality as shown in Two Saints where they have to travel in secret.

And the other most common form of Isekai, the welcome-group-of-heroes-where-the-MC-is-the-outcast, gets already disqualified by the group of people-fact. But most importantly, those stories have generally something shady going on with the MC as the outcast by choice or force being the only one working against those. Like Tate no Yuusha, Arifureta, Word Master and Instant-Death Cheat.

Thus I chose a world of the first kind, where the OP-MC actually witnesses a hero summoning. And that the people can't control who they summon helped a lot in choosing this particular one, too.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	14. Chapter 13: Therapy

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, **merendinoemiliano**, **Radamalama** and **nyanodesu**.

Hi, guys and gals.

One of my reviewers had the opinion that Ji-Han would, given the choice, rather go for a Class using magic rather than physical skills. Which confused me a bit, considering I could not find a moment where he expecidedly stated, he preferred magic and thought he only ended up focusing on that, because it is more versatile. Still, I apologize if I messed up his character and I on my own won't have the time to rewrite stuff, even if someone shows me some "proof". Nonetheless, I would like to know if I have made a mistake or not. So, if anyone feels like combing through the original Gamer to proof me wrong, I'd appreciate it.

For now, onto the story:

Chapter 13: Therapy

"Are you the hero who has been summoned to defeat the Demon Lord?"

"What?"

Apparently Ji-Han's confusion was quite visible as {La Langusten, Lwalgang}, the {-King of Langusten-} and the true identity of the old man in front of him, began to clarify:

"Our world is in great peril. The Demon Lord has appeared and threatens our every lives. But as a being from out of this world, his power is too great for us to defeat him on our own. We need you, oh hero from another world, to defeat him or all will be lost!"

PING!

{A quest has been created.}

"Excuse me for a bit", Ji-Han told the people around him as he looked at the panel in front of him.

{**Quest Alert**

Hero Summoning: Demon Lord Approaching

The world of Cantehill is under the thread of a Demon Lord.

Become the hero of the world and help vanquish the Demon Lord.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Defeat the Demon Lord personally.  
2: ?  
3: ?

Completion Award: +100 000 EXP.  
The people of this world will live in peace from the Demon Lord until its next summoning.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
Increased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.  
?

Bonus Award:  
1: +50 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
2: ?  
3: ?

Completion Failure: +10 000 EXP.  
?}

Ji-Han took another moment to comprehend the words. And then he groaned.

"Are you kidding me?" He exclaimed as he stood up. "I've been summoned like one of those other world novels?! I am already on a mission to save a world! Not to mention the current quest with Aqua… oh, shit. Now there's no one who can let Aqua and Shua out of the cage!"

PING!

"What?!"

{You have received a new message.}

A new message? He was pretty sure his Gamer did not come with a message system. Voice chat, yes, but messages? Not that he knew off. So who would be able to reach him when he was summoned to another world yet not instantly open a portal to the world… Wait. Summoned?

"[Hero Union BBS]!"

{Welcome to the Hero Union BBS.  
You are logged in as  
[Active Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg → Cantehill)].

Hero Coordination Board /Active Hero Board / Retired Hero Board

Account

Personal Threads

Contacts

Hero Chat (11)

Alerts

Traffic Stats}

Huh. He got quite a lot of messages. Especially considering he hadn't heard that many "PINGs".

Ji-Han quickly opened the {Hero Chat} and found a bunch of messages from {Active Hero: Lucky Thief (Kingdom of Belzerg), all asking him with increasing worry, where he was.

Ji-Han tipped at {Reply} and a hologram of a keyboard appeared in front of him. Using it he quickly typed in that he was fine, just that he had been summoned to another world as a hero. As soon as he had tipped {Send}, he got another message from Kazuma, voicing his relief and the suggestion to try and get in touch with people from the Hero Union to get someone to send him back to their world. And then, before he even finished reading the current message, he got another one. This one was Naofumi suggesting he used his Keyblade to try and open the way back instead.

Ji-Han summoned his Binary Spirit and studied it. Technically he knew that Keyblades were supposed to be able to open and close anything, but up until now he had only used it on things where he could actually see something to close and open. Like keyholes. But to use it on a random spot?

…But then again, this wasn't just a random spot. This was the place for a hero summoning, something that called forth someone from another world, basically connecting the two places. All he needed to do was "open" this connection again.

Ji-Han pointed his Keyblade towards the ground in front of him, thinking about the place where he had been before.

"[Heart Key: Open]!"

The space above the ground folded in itself, creating a tear in space and time that opened a portal that showed the lake in question bathed in the glow of the setting sun. Damn, was it that late already?! He couldn't have been away for more than fifteen minutes.

Wait. Had this world possibly a slower passage of time than the world he had been in before? That would also explain why he got so many messages so fast. He had literally been living slower.

"Hey, Ji-Han, are you there? Get over here already, Aqua's getting cranky."

Ah, Naofumi was calling him through the voice chat. Does that mean the Gamer could even reach another world as long as there was an open portal in-between? Wow, this was getting better and better.

"Tell Aqua to be patient, I'll be there in a minute", he send back through the voice chat and stepped through the portal.

"Please wait!"

Or rather he had planned to do so. But he was held back by the shout of the woman, he had noticed earlier with the elf girl, wavy blond hair and ruby eyes and all.

[ˀ?ˀ  
-ˀ?ˀ-  
Lv? Curie, Eleanor]

"Please don't leave us, honorable hero!" She addressed him, prostrating herself in front of him. "You are our only hope! The people of this world are dying in doves in the battle against the Demon Lord and our healers have trouble addressing all the injured. But as someone from another world his power is too great for us to stop him without the help of someone with powers beyond this world. If you leave us, we will all be lost!"

Ji-Han winced as the quest alert, he had closed before, suddenly opened again. It definitively sounded like they needed a hero. But as he had said in his rant earlier, he already had other obligations. Aqua and Shua were still waiting for him and then he still had to close the keyhole of that world. And besides…

"You guys are all a lot stronger than I am", he noted as he took a look around himself and saw all the question marks. "For the most part at last." The exception being some people like that noble guy who looked like a pig.

"What makes me special is this Keyblade, which means that stuff I kill actually stays dead and I can close the keyholes to the hearts of worlds to prevent the Heartless from devouring it. It doesn't actually make the killing stuff any easier. And my other ability, the Gamer, is classified as a Late Bloomer because it takes so long to get powerful. I might be able to defeat your Demon Lord at some point in the future, but who knows how long that will take. You're better off just summoning a new hero."

"We can't", rejected the woman. "It took us this much magical power to summon a hero in the first place. We won't be able to gather enough before it is too late."

Ji-Han cursed. What the hell? Did that mean he had to choose which world to save and which one to doom?! What kind of bullshit was that?!

But for all his rants on the unfairness of the situation, it still didn't change anything on the fact that he was totally underleveled for this world. Trying to fight the Demon Lord of this world would just get him killed, helping no one. It pained him, but in the end this world had to go without a hero… did it? In the end, this world didn't actually need him. It just needed _a_ hero. Who that was, didn't matter. And didn't he have the ability to contact a bunch of heroes?

"Wait a moment", he told the woman and then used his voice chat to do the same for his party. "[Hero Union BBS]."

Okay, now to make his own thread…

{**I got summoned during my quest. Replacement needed!  
[Active Heroes Side]**

1\. Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
I've got summoned during my quest and while I can get easily back on my own, if I do the people of this world are pretty much doomed. So I need someone to take my place. An ideas?

2\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
Hello, Student here! Lol. It's a double booking!

3\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
Hey, there. Lol. A double booking.

4\. Watches over Heroes: Star Alloy Robot 1 (Parallel Universe #4)  
Greetings, new hero! You've been summoned during your quest? Intriguing.

5\. Hero: Yankee (Orfen Kingdom)  
Typical, these guys never care about your own circumstances.

6\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
Hey, there. I've got a lot of experience with being summoned, but I've never been summoned during a quest. The summoning circles always only appeared after I've finished my current one.

7\. Watches over Heroes: Star Alloy Robot 1 (Parallel Universe #4)  
Me, too. When I was summoned after defeating the evil space empire Evul, it was already on the way back.

8\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
Lol. Wasn't that because Sage was messing around?

9\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
Lol. It sure was. See → [I just got a black ticket] for more details.

10\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
You think, he messed up again?

11\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
Getting summoned like that is highly unusual. I don't know of anyone who had a double booking like that.

12\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
I actually know some.

13\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
That's Student for you, the guy who since his appearance had been in every thread on the BBS.

14\. Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Really? He's gotta have a lot of free time to do that.

15\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
Sorry, but anything about my personal life is secret ;-)

16\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
He never did open any threads on his own, didn't he?

17\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
And he did show up to the last meeting as a puppet.

18\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
What are you talking about? I've looked like I always look.

19\. Hero: Yankee (Orfen Kingdom)  
As a square with a mouth and literally the words "no image" written on it? That aside, you are all talking about random stuff, aren't you guys supposed to help the newbie?

20\. Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Right, I completely forgot because listening to you guys was so interesting.

21\. Watches over Heroes: Star Alloy Robot 1 (Parallel Universe #4)  
Student, you said you know of others in similar circumstances, right? What was the procedure in those cases?

22\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
The Hero Union would send the hero in question back on his original quest and then send someone to take a look at the faulty summoning ritual. I've actually notified Sage for that. He should join in soon.

23\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
But didn't the Hero said that he already has a way back? How come? I thought the Kingdom of Belzerg heroes were not allowed to choose any world-hopping cheats?

24\. Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Oh, I am not actually one of the guys who got reincarnated. I was just visiting. And as it turns out, it's actually pretty easy to open portals between worlds if there's a connection for the Keyblade to open, like a summoning ritual.

25\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
…

26\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
…

27\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
…

28\. Hero: Yankee (Orfen Kingdom)  
…

29\. Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
What's with all the dots?

30\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
It's The Gamer!

31\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
The Gamer! Lol.

32\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
You're The Gamer?

33\. Hero: Yankee (Orfen Kingdom)  
You are the guy with the Keyblade?

34\. Watches over Heroes: Star Alloy Robot 1 (Parallel Universe #4)  
You are The Gamer? It's an honor to actually meet you!

35\. Hero: Hero (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Damn, you guys are making me blush.

36\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
Not only that, Star Alloy Robot 1 and his friends actually runs on smiles. The Heartless are pretty much their mortal enemies.

37\. Watches over Heroes: Star Alloy Robot 1 (Parallel Universe #4)  
Indeed! As a hero I have taken it upon myself to protect everyone's smiles! I cannot stand the Heartless who feed on people's suffering! Thus I am really grateful to you who protects worlds and people from them!

38\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Thanks, but I am still just a beginner. So far I've only closed off the heart of one world. And the bad guy we fought before got taken out by a native. I've got a long way to go until I can proudly call myself Keyblade Wielder.

39\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
…Why did my name change?

40\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
That was me! Since everyone already knows who you are, I decided to change the name for you. Aren't I nice?

41\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
Right, he's doing that from time to time.

42\. Hero: Yankee (Orfen Kingdom)  
Are you telling me that guy's actually able to hack into a multi-dimensional force whenever he wants?

43\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
I never thought about it this way.

44\. Hero: Freeter (Sansaman)  
Yeah, he's always making it seem so normal. I guess I forgot we're talking about the BBS here.

45\. Watches over Heroes: Student (Global State)  
Why are you surprised? Even if I am a Student, I am still a hero.

46\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Alright, I'm here.

47\. Watches over Heroes: Star Alloy Robot 1 (Parallel Universe #4)  
Welcome!

48\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
Welcome, Sage! You're up to speed?

49\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Hi there. Student said, you are the one who knows how to deal with my problem?

50\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
I've read the log. So, you just need someone to look over the summoning ritual to prevent you or anyone else busy from being summoned.

51\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
And make it so that they can use the summoning ritual right now. Apparently it takes too much MP for them to repeat it.

52\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Right. I'll just head over then and talk to the people in person.

53\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Breaking down spacetime. Dimensional seal: Cantehill. Connected.

54\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Why are you writing what you're doing?

55\. Watches over Heroes: Company Employee (Parallel universe #8)  
It's because he's thinking about it of course. You don't use telepathy?

56\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Farsight.

57\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Telepathy? Holy shit it works! No need to tip stuff anymore!

58\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Back on topic, usually we don't reveal our real identities, but to find you, can you tell me a bit… wait. What's with that large rift in spacetime?! Oh, it's a wormhole between Cantehill and the Kingdom of Belzerg… is that guy next to it you? Can you summon the Keyblade?

59\. Hero: The Gamer (Kingdom of Belzerg - Cantehill)  
Like this?

60\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Okay, it is you. I'm coming over.

61\. Watches over Heroes: Sage (Sky Garden)  
Fixing target: Sage of the Forest. Making a connection in spacetime. Maintaining connection. Sheltering target. Rejecting target decay. Preserving target. Moving target through spacetime.}

"Removing spacetime connection. Reassembling spacetime."

Ji-Han spun around towards the newcomer. He appeared to be a young man with short white hair, which appeared wild and unkempt. His left eye was of a pinkish-red while his left shone in the same blue that made up the magical symbol on the left side of his face, going over his eye like a scar.

He wore a dark wizard robe-like vest over a white shirt, as well as a black skirt. And above his head, Ji-Han could only see question marks.

"Alright, let's get down to business", the newcomer spoke. "So, who's the local with the most knowledge on the summoning ritual?"

"That would be me", an elderly priest responded. "Are you going to help us?"

"That's Sage from the Hero Union", explained Ji-Han. "He'll look at your summoning ritual to make sure you can summon someone again and this time won't end up getting someone who has something else to do."

The people visibly perked up.

"We'll be forever in your debt", the King exclaimed, bowing to the hero who waved his gratitude away.

"Don't worry about it. I am just doing a junior of mine a favor. Just don't try to set me up with any woman and we'll be fine."

"Thanks, Sage", Ji-Han addressed the Retired Hero, who waved in response and began to talk shop with the priest. So, Ji-Han turned back to the woman in front of him, while thanking the people on the BBS.

"With Sage on the job, my role here is over. So, I'll just be going and probably not coming back, unless this world reaches out to me to close its keyhole… Hey, Cantehill, was it? Since I am already here, if you want me to close the keyhole to prevent the Heartless from reaching it, say so."

But nothing happened. Not that he had expected different. After all, he did just blow off the call to save this world. Considering that even the Keeper of Balance had waited to see what kind of person he was, how would a world trust him so easily in these circumstances?

But since he was already in another world, there was one thing he could take away from it.

"[Inventory]!"

A quick look through the inventory and he found, what he had been looking for: A colorful slip of paper, with the words {Plushie Coupon} written on them. Ji-Han ripped it in half and it exploded in smoke. Once the smoke cleared, Ji-Han's hands now held a 25cm large plushie.

"It's Eltina!" The young elf girl from earlier exclaimed as she moved closer in curiosity. JI-Han looked between the girl and the item and, sure enough, it was definitively a smaller version of the real-life elf called Eltina. Wait. What's with her status?!

[Peachy-Sensei Inheritor  
-Is a Saint, so what?-  
LvYES Ranford Etil, Eltina]

Ji-Han had never seen anything like that. Her level was a word, her class a sentence and her title was referencing another person. Normally Ji-Han would not use [Observe] on a person because of privacy issues, but this time his curiosity was just too large to resist the temptation.

{Name: Ranford Etil, Eltina  
Class: Is a Saint, so what?  
Title: Peachy-Sensei Inheritor  
Level: LvYES (Getting there)  
Gender: What do you think?  
Age: Loli  
Race: Elf  
Sub-Race: White Elf  
Status: Adorable

HP: Is full  
MP: Is dazzling  
Elemental Resistances: maybe  
STR: No strength VIT: Must Protect DEX: Probably agile  
INT: Next Mealtime WIS: Oppai LUK: Peachy}

Damn, that was one crazy status screen. Funny at some points, weird at some others, but most importantly it was messing with his Gamer. Moreover, out of all the things in the world, the Plushie Coupon had transformed into her. Combined with the aforementioned status, she really had to be someone special in that world.

"Hey", Eltina interrupted his thoughts. "Can you make one of her?" She pointed towards the Eleanor and it took a bit for Ji-Han to realize what she wanted.

"It doesn't work that way", he explained. "The Plushie Coupon only transforms into one thing depending on the world. I can't decide what that is." He lowered his voice to some kind of mock-whisper. "Which is why I think I can get something good if I got enough different ones."

"Fukyun!" Eltina exclaimed in annoyance at having her request being denied, not interested in the other stuff Ji-Han, was saying.

Ji-Han chuckled at the angry glare, because while she was probably thinking she looked menacing like that, the pouting just made her look cuter.

"Tell you what?" He said to her. "I've got another Plushie Coupon here. If you want you can try and see if you get something different when you use it. But since Naofumi will get angry at me, if I give it away for free, I would like to exchange it with part of your hair. One of my team members gets new shields when he absorbs new stuff and I am pretty sure he had never seen someone like you before."

Eltina nodded.

"I _am_ a rare creature", she noted as like it was the most natural thing of the world, fiddling with a strand of her hair. "Do you have a knife?"

Ji-Han used his Binary Spirit to cut off the offered strand of hair and gave her a Plushie Coupon in return. She eagerly accepted it and with a "Sashisashi" stared intensively at the item in question. Then she ripped it in half with a "Fukyun!" White smoke appeared and when it vanished, Ji-Han had to do a double-take, as it indeed had changed not into an Eltina Plushie, but an Eleanor one, just like she had wanted. She really was someone special, wasn't she?

Suddenly a light shone from above and the people around him gasped in surprise. Ji-Han had looked up like them, though his surprise was less vocal. He had, after all, already seen something like that before.

No, his surprise came more from the fact that the world had in the end decided to bare its keyhole all the same. Did his interaction with the little Eltina made the world decide to trust him, after all? But all he did was a simple business transaction… no matter, he had a job to do.

"Your wish is my command", Ji-Han spoke as he raised the Keyblade. "[Heart Key: Close]!"

A beam of light, a locking sound and the keyhole disappeared again.

PING!

{Gratitude from a world has created the keychain [Hippocratic Battlefield].}

{[Hippocratic Battlefield]  
Element: Mystic  
Damage: +6  
Range: Short  
+10% EXP-gains to healing abilities.}

Hell, yeah! A new keychain that had a new element and increased the rate at which he leveled his healing skills?! Awesome! Now he could definitively say that getting summoned to another world had been worth it!

"Is that how it looks like if a keyhole is closed?" Sage spoke up in fascination and Ji-Han nodded.

"Yep, that's the second time I closed a keyhole and it just looked like the first. That said, with that I now really have no reason to stick around anymore and I've left Aqua and Shua in that cage for way too long. So, goodbye!"

"Bye, bye!" Eltina responded, happily waved her free hand, while the other clutched her plushie to her chest. Ji-Han waved back as he stepped through the wormhole – and promptly fell to the ground as the portal ended at exactly the place where he had been summoned: In mid-air.

"I'm okay!" He shouted quickly after regaining his bearings to reassure the people on the other side. "Goodbye! [Heart Key: Close]!" A beam of light and the space entwarped itself, cutting off the connection between the Kingdom of Belzerg and Cantehill.

Okay. Now to get to the others…

* * *

"Ah, so you have finally decided to check up on your minions! Unfortunately you now are facing me, Cursed Sword Owner Mitsurugi Kyouya, member of the Hero Union! I'll have you release the goddess at once!"

Ji-Han stared blankly at the guy in front of him. He had short brown hair, violet eyes, a tiara-like headband and dark blue heavy armor with golden trim. He was currently pointing a sword at Ji-Han, a cursed sword if his labels were any indication:

[Cursed Sword Owner  
-Sword Master-  
Lv? Mitsurugi, Kyouya]

Ji-Han then looked past Kyouya to Naofumi for clarification. He didn't exactly expect to be treated at sword point after he had teleported down to the place where they had landed in the Kingdom of Belzerg the first time. He had only expected his current party to wait for him, not another guy and his two female flunkies.

"Just open the cage", Naofumi suggested after rolling his eyes. "That guy's delusional, so it will be easier to just do what he wants."

"Delusional? I have found you hiding in the woods with the goddess inside a cage! Are you are telling me, I am delusional?!"

"Watch that sword", Kazuma told the other hero. "I don't think you want to explain to the Hero Union how you accidentally killed The Gamer."

That stopped Kyouya cold in his tracks.

"The Gamer", he repeated, staring aghast at JI-Han who smugly waved with his hand, before summoning the Hippocratic Battlefield.

The shaft was like the magic stuff the green-haired woman at the summoning had, only upside down as the golden flowers pointed towards the grip instead. The grip meanwhile resembled the emblem that had hung around Eltina's neck, only cut in half and bend, so that inside there was space for a bar covered in red bandages like the broadsword of the blue-haired guy who also had been at the summoning, as well as Ji-Han's hand to hold it. The keychain was a small peach, which Ji-Han had no idea why as he had not seen one peach in the place, but the teeth on the other end resembled the crown-like hat Eleanor had been wearing.

"Oh, my apologies", Kyouya spoke as he put back his sword. "I had assumed you were with these thugs. But then, why did it appear like they know you?"

Ji-Han shook his head.

"I was the one who put Aqua and Shua into the cage and closed it with the Keyblade to protect them from any enemies", he explained. "I just got accidentally summoned before I could let them out and had to get a replacement for the world I got summoned to. I actually made a thread about that, if you want to check."

"Really?" He asked and instantly got lost in the BBS, trying to look for it. Meanwhile Ji-Han walked over to the cage.

"[Heart Key: Open]!"

PING!

{[Heart Key: Open]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Then he knocked at the door with the Keyblade, undoing the normal lock and opening it.

"Took you long enough", Aqua huffed as she climbed out and Ji-Han rolled his eyes.

"Hey, it's not my fault I suddenly got summoned!"

Anything else he wanted to say was interrupted by Kyouya who had quickly ran over as soon as he had noticed Aqua being freed.

"My Lady!" He addressed her, offering her his hand. She took it and he helped her out of the cage. "I am glad to see that you are well. I understand I have The Gamer to thank for that. But why are you here in this world in the first place?"

"Right, I'll explain", Kazuma spoke up before he did as he had said. Though it appeared as if he better shouldn't have as Kyouya got angry again.

"Ridiculous! Impossible! What were you thinking?! Bringing a goddess to this world!"

"N-n-now just a minute!" Aqua tried to stop Kyouya who had grabbed Kazuma by the collar in his anger. "I have a pretty good life here, okay? It doesn't bother me anymore that the dragged me here, okay? And I can go home if I defeat the Demon King! Just look at this quest today. Sure, it was a bit scary, but I was save the whole time! I've made 3 million Munny today and as part of our agreement I can get one more, if I give them a bit of my hair."

"What?! You are even forced to sell your body for one measly million?! You are a goddess, is this what he had reduced to? …Say, at one inn are you staying at?"

"I-it's not an inn we're all staying at. It's m-more of a…stable."

"What?!" Kyouya's grip tightened even more, enough for Darkness to intervene.

"I think it's time you let go of my friend. I warn you, grabbing the neck of a man you've just met is _not_ the way to make a good first impression."

"A Crusader and an Arch-wizard? And rather fetching ones at that." He spoke as he let go of Kazuma and studied the two other girls with interest. "It seems you've been blessed with fine party members. All the more reason, then, that you should be ashamed of yourself. Forcing Lady Aqua and these fine-looking people to sleep in a stable! If I understand correctly, you're an Adventurer, the lowest class."

"Oh, shut your trap already", Naofumi snapped at the hero, finally having enough. "Forcing them to sleep in a stable? Are you a fucking retard? How is he supposed to do that? He isn't their owner. Whatever's stopping them from looking for a different party with better income, is on them!"

Kazuma looked at the Hero of the Shield like the whole world had gone against him and he had finally found the one person who understood him. Naturally, the companions of Kyouya were the opposite.

"Don't talk to Mitsurugi-kun like that!" One of the two girls with him demanded angrily, the other supporting her.

Naofumi wasn't impressed.

"And now the cheerleaders come to the rescue. Do you always let them shout at people you can't win arguments against?"

"Ugh!" Kyouya recoiled from the accusation and the girls flinched. They both idolized the hero and thus were very sensible to any slight against their idol. Something which the Hero of the Shield completely abused when he made them a reason for Mitsurugi to look bad. Now, instead focusing on the fact that he had insulted the hero, they were thinking about that their actions had shamed Kyouya. Completely forgetting the fact that getting angry at someone insulting your friends was actually normal.

But while Naofumi could have instead tried to point out that Kyouya was the one who started looking down on others first, in his experience people like that never cared about logic. So he ended the dispute by attacking the person instead of the argument. The fact that the wannabe-hero ticked him off, just made shutting them up like that much more satisfying.

"But- I- that's- that's not the issue!" The Cursed Sword Owner finally managed to get out.

"Ladies like that should not have to live in such circumstances", he declared. "If he will not treat them right, I will!" He turned towards the girls of Kazuma's party.

"It looks like you girls have had a rough time up until now. Well, you can stick with me now! I won't let you sleep in any stable, that's for sure. I'll get you the best gear. And the party's balance will be perfect with you! We'll have me, a Sword Master, and my companion, a Warrior, along with you, a Crusader. And on the other hand, my Thief friend will pair perfectly with this Arch-wizard. And we'll have Lady Aqua, of course. You couldn't ask for a more balanced group!"

Ji-Han looked over Kazuma in worry. Kyouya was pretty well off, so he had a point in that if they went him, their life would be a lot easier. And with the monetary troubles and Kazuma having joined their party for the moment, they might decide to go with Kyouya, after all. Would it be their fault that Kazuma would end up alone?

The Lucky Thief seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he crept up behind them as they discussed the proposal. But to his surprise, Kazuma did not despair. He instead just raised an eyebrow at what they were talking about, until Aqua turned around.

"Come on, Kazuma, let's get back to the Guild. I may have given that kid a sword, but I don't want to give him any more of my time."

Wow, that was harsh. Did she dislike his offer that much?

Kazuma, meanwhile, was visibly happy with the decision.

"Well, it looks like all _my_ party members are happy were they are. Thanks anyway! If you don't mind, we've got a completed quest to report…"

But Kyouya would not give up that easily. He put himself in front of the horse and the cart with the cage, stopping Kazuma from advancing.

"Could you maybe get out of the way?" The Lucky Thief said in annoyance, not looking forward to what the Cursed Sword Owner would cook up now.

"I'm sorry, but Lady Aqua gave me the magic sword Gram, and I cannot allow her to remain in these conditions. You cannot save this world. I will be the one to defeat the Demon King. Lady Aqua _must_ come with me. You claim that what you chose to bring to this world was Lady Aqua herself, yes?"

"Sure do."

"In that case fight me for her. You-"

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

"Arggh!"

Kazuma pulled out his sword as he jumped backwards, just as taken by surprise of the green transparent shield, as the one into which abdomen it had rammed into with its side: Mitsurugi Kyouya. The hero was shut up as all the air was pushed out of his lunges and then flung back through the air, before crashing onto the ground and still sledding backwards.

Ji-Han turned to Naofumi for clarification- and promptly had all of his air escape him to. Not because the Hero of the Shield had sucker-punched him. No, what took away his breath was simply just Naofumi's expression. Though to be fair, called that an expression was not doing it any justice.

His face was cast in shadows, his right eye bulging, his mouth distorted into a grimace that made him look closer to a demon than human. His pupils burned with a hatred that wanted to set the world aflame.

Ji-Han took involuntarily a step back and he was not even the target of Naofumi's ire. The hero in question was currently picking himself up.

"What the- who-"

"You really are a hero, _aren't you_?"

Naofumi's seemingly random question, but laced with that much discontent, stopped any attempts of forming any more coherent sentences, as the Hero of the Shield slowly walked over to the downed Kyouya.

"Forcing someone into a duel that you don't think they have any chance of winning, forcing them to bet their only edge in an unforgiving world… you _really_ are a hero, aren't you?"

"Wha- That- All I am doing is trying to help!" Kyouya defended himself but that was the wrong thing to say.

"_Congratulations!_" Hissed the Hero of the Shield. "Did Aqua ask for your help? Did she? Oh, wait. I think she said something about that. What was it again? Oh, right? _Talking to you is a waste of time_. So, my dear _hero_. Maybe you should stick to saving puppies instead of forcing yourself onto others who. Clearly. Don't. Need. You."

Everyone could just stare at Naofumi, too scared to speak up less the anger was suddenly directed their way. Even Ji-Han, who knew that the shield hero could get aggressive, had never seen him like that. Even Devimon hadn't been that full of hatred and he had been pretty much darkness incarnate.

Wait. Darkness?

Ji-Han's face became pale.

The effect that Naofumi's words had on Kyouya, breaking him down systematically and tearing down his world-view, it couldn't come as a surprise if the hero turned to despair. Not only that, who ever said that despair was the only negative emotion? Didn't Zenkichi-Ssi say that strife could turn people into Heartless, too? With the way things were, Naofumi feeding his flames of anger to devour Kyouya's self-esteem, if he didn't do anything, they might _both_ turn into Heartless!

"Naofumi!" He called out and the Hero of the Shield turned to him.

"_What?!_"

Ji-Han flinched.

"Nothing", he quickly said before he could stop himself, cursing himself right afterwards.

Damn, it! That was no time to get cold feet! If he didn't, Naofumi might turn into a Heartless!

_Just like Akari._

Damn it! He needed something to distract them! Anything!

His gaze fell upon Shua.

"Shua!" He commanded pointing at Naofumi. "Paint therapy!"

Shua didn't know what therapy was, but he knew paint and he saw the out-stretched finger. Thus he took the brush and held it right in front of him like a spear, as he ran towards his target.

"Smeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaar!"

Naofumi had just enough time to turn around to see a jumping Smeargle and get a faceful of indigo.

"Wha-"

But Shua didn't stop there. He ran and jumped circles around the Hero of the Shield, paining any part he could get his brush on – Naofumi's VIT unable to stop something that wasn't an attack in the first place.

"Hey- You- Stop- _Ji-Han_! What are you making Shua do?!"

"Nothing much. Just stopping you from becoming a Heartless."

Naofumi stared aghast at the Gamer, Shua completely forgotten even as he continued to make sure that there were less and less unpainted places.

"Are you serious?" The Hero of the Shield exclaimed and Ji-Han nodded grimly.

"Of course I am! Devimon hadn't been as scary as you were! And I've already lost Akari, I am not losing anyone else!"

Naofumi stared at Ji-Han for a moment then huffed in annoyance.

"Alright!" He declared finally in a tone of voice that just that "screw this, I am not paid enough for this shit."

"Then you deal with this wannabe-hero!"

Looks like Naofumi still couldn't resist a parting shot, but it was a far cry away from the anger that he had displayed earlier, so Ji-Han took it as a win as he switched places with Naofumi.

Though what to do about the Cursed Sword Owner now?

"Kyouya-Ssi, was it?" He addressed the dumbfounded hero. "Now, I am sorry for the way my comrade talked to you. But on the other hand, he has a point. I don't know why the girls have decided to pick Kazuma over you. Maybe they have taken pity on him…" "Hey!" "…Maybe they just don't like to depend on charity. Whatever the case, in the end it is their decision. And we should respect that."

"Oh, you want to know why we don't want to deal with Kyouya?" Aqua injected agitated. "I'll tell you! Haven't you noticed how he just assumed we would come with him?! There's being a narcissist and then there's being creepy! If he ever want me to give him the time of the day, he better clean up his act first!"

With every word, Kyouya was shrinking into himself further and further. And when Aqua didn't seem to be finished even then, Ji-Han decided to stop her less she completed what Naofumi started.

"Shua. Paint therapy!"

"Smeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaar!"

"What? Nooooooooooooooooo!"

Not wanting to turn out like Naofumi, Aqua ran away screaming, the pursing Pokémon hot on her trail.

"Is this going to turn into a Running Gag?" Asked Kazuma and Ji-Han shrugged.

"If it's necessary."

"Smeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaar!"

"What are you doing to Lady Aqua?!"

Oh, even though Aqua had spouted all the abuse at him earlier, he was still ready to defend her at a moment's notice. What a resilient guy.

"Relax, it's not like it'll hurt her. It's just paint after all."

"Smeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaar!"

"STOP WATCHING AND CALL HIM OFF, ALREADY!"

"Alright, Shua, that's enough. Good job."

"Smear!"

Ji-Han could have let this continue for a while. But since its purpose, stopping Aqua from verbally abusing Kyouya, had been achieved, there wasn't really any reason to continue. It certainly would lose any comedic value after Aqua had told them to stop.

"Back to the topic at hand", Ji-Han addressed Kyouya. "It seems that her dislike of you comes from the fact that you try to tell her what's best for her. Like an overprotective father who doesn't want to let his daughter leave the house. So, if you stop being so persistent in helping her and wait for her to come to you if she really needs help, you'd be a lot more liked."

"Right", mused Kyouya with an unsure look. "I-I need some time to think about stuff. I'll see you around."

With that he said his goodbyes and left together with his two add-ons who were trying to comfort him.

"Finally", Aqua exclaimed. "A bit out of breath from all the running. And here I thought, he'd never go away!"

"Shua..."

"STOP! Stop! I'll be good, I promise!"

"But she does have a point", noted Naofumi. "Thanks to all the distractions, it'll be dark when we get back to Axel. And that if I don't clean myself up first."

"Then you'll just have to stay like that for a while", decided Ji-Han. "It's your punishment for nearly turning into a Heartless. Seriously, how you managed to stay human with that much hate, I don't know."

Naofumi looked actually thoughtful. Like he himself could not belief he did not die there.

"I wonder if Darkness-Resistance protects increase resistance to turning into a Heartless, too…"

"You have Darkness-Resistance?" Repeated Ji-Han and then nodded. "Right, that's the only thing I can think of that could have helped."

"Okay", interjected Kazuma, "since we cleared that up, I think we should actually get back. I don't want to get ambushed by Heartless while it's dark outside."

"True", conceded Ji-Han. "Let's go."

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

And now you've seen the reason why I've chosen this world over the others: Character development for both Ji-Han and Naofumi. Seriously, having Naofumi nearly go berserk with Kyouya behaving like Motoyasu was way too good to pass up. For those who know this part in canon, they also know that Kazuma did not actually need to be "saved" from Kyouya. He actually had a quite successful plan in dealing with the wannabe-hero. Not that it would have mattered to Naofumi. He acted because Kyouya was a convenient target to direct all his hatred on the spear hero to.

The Paint Therapy-gag was originally supposed to be Dog Therapy but since I didn't know whether Ji-Han knew either of them was a thing, I went with the one that sounded more intuitive.

Lastly, getting back on what I talked about in the last chapter, the presence of the Hero Union is what allows me to include the MC getting summoned during his quest without destroyed the narrative. It's not going to be their only purpose either.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	15. Chapter 14: Headless Horseman

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you for your review, **merendinoemiliano**.

Chapter 14: Headless Horseman

"Oh, good you are finally back!" Voiced Luna the receptionist as she greeted them outside of the guild building. "Please come quick!"

They followed Luna to the main gate where the adventurers of Axel – as in, enough Adventurers that they might as well be all of them – had gathered with weapon and torches to illuminate the dark. To which Naofumi added his own light from the Lacrima Lamp Shield

Opposite to them was a literal ghost army, undead knights in front of them surrounded by bluish-glowing flames. And in front of them was a headless horse, standing next to a seated knight whose head was also separated from the body, but still accounted for. He just carried it in his left arm instead.

The Dullahan noticed them, stood up and mounted his horse. With a red-glowing eye he looked down at the gathering.

"So finally you have decided to show yourself!"

Ji-Han exchanged a gaze with Naofumi. Did he wait for him because he was the Keyblade Wielder?

"I'm sorry, but we've just returned", Ji-Han apologized. "So, what is your business with me?"

"I don't care about you", dismissed the Dullahan him, "I am talking to the miscreant next to you. Tell me, why have you not come to the castle?!"

Ji-Han followed his gaze and notice Megumin. Oh, so the Dullahan had a history with her. He didn't come because he heard of the Keyblade, but because of something she did. Though what could she have done to piss him off like that? She didn't look old enough for him to do something like "come to my castle in a weak to become my bride or I'll destroy the town." Oh, wait, this was a western fantasy, they married earlier in those, didn't they?

"Umm… why should we?" Asked Kazuma as he stood protectively in front of his party member. We? So it really wasn't something like that. "And who's a miscreant? We haven't set off one explosion since you asked us to stop. Why are you so upset?" Oh, so Megumin used Explosion on him? Wait, she could only use one explosion a day. Did she went day after day to the Dullahan and set off an explosion in his face? He somehow doubted that if she did that, he would have waited so long to show up.

"You haven't set off a single explosion, have you? Not one magical blast? Ridiculous! Your insane Crimson friend has come by every single day!"

She did?! Then how…

"You went to his castle? I told you not to go, and you still went?!"

"O-o-o-o-o-owww! That hurts!" Kazuma was tugging on Megumin's cheek, causing her a lot of discomfort. "D-do not misunderstand, Kazuma- let me explain! I used to be able to get by just setting off an explosion in an empty field. B-but now that I have tasted the joy of exploding a castle, I need to cast my spell on something huge and hard…!"

Ah, so she attacked his castle day after day from a distance, which meant he could not just strike back at her then and there. Still, the way she talked about, she sounded like an addicted pervert. Kazuma was of the same opinion.

"I know what it means when you get all fidgety! And anyway, you can't move after you cast Explosion. Which means… you must have had an accomplice. Now, who was it…?"

Aqua averted her gaze when his look through the crowd fell upon her.

"What it _youuuu_?!"

"Yaaaah! We just wanted to get him back for finding any good quests! He's the reason I spend every day being screamed at by the shopkeeper!"

"What angers me the most is not that you insists on your puny pyrotechnics- but that you have no desire to help your friend! Before I was unjustly put to death and transformed by my anger into the monster you see before you, I was a Knight."

Ji-Han's froze.

"You are a Heartless?!"

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!"

"Uwak!" Ji-Han took involuntarily a step back as his sudden outburst made the Dullahan even angrier. But he couldn't have helped it. Here was a guy who had fallen to darkness yet still had a sense of self. He had never seen something like that!

"As I was saying, before my death, I was a Knight. And as a Knight, I tell you- to abandon that Crusader, who selflessly shielded you from my curse with her own body, trading her life for yours the very image of Knighthood…"

He trailed off as Ji-Han moved to the side, revealing a blushing Darkness. Who else could he have meant, after all? The Crusader in question waved shyly, almost apologetic.

"…Wh…whaaaa…?!"

Naturally the Dullahan was in shock. After all, if Ji-Han had guessed correctly, in response to Megumin's harassment – the first time – the Dullahan had send a death curse towards her, only for Darkness to intercept it, falling prey towards it instead. He then had probably said something like "come to my castle or she dies in a week" and left them behind. Only for someone – probably Aqua, she was a goddess, after all – to break the curse instead, making it unnecessary for them to go to the castle.

His deductions were promptly proven true as Aqua started to break down laughing while pointing at the Dullahan.

"Aww, what is it? Are you surprised to see Darkness alive and well? Even though it's been more than a week? Were you waiting for us in your castle this whole time? Never knowing that I broke the curse on Darkness, like, five minutes after you left? Pffft! That's rich! That's too much!"

The Dullahan was fuming. Literally. Even with the ghostly lights being the only source of illumination, it was not difficult to see the strands of Darkness coiling around the headless rider.

Oh, shit.

"Don't screw with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Darkness exploded around him in a violent noise. But that was not half as scary as what happened afterwards. From one moment to the next, the Dullahan's voice cut off, filling the surroundings with a deafening silence. Then, out of his chest, flew a pink-colored crystal in the shape of a heart, like those that appeared when Ji-Han took down an Emblem-Heartless. At the same time the Dullahan's body dispersed into dark particles, the crystal heart curved around from one side to the other, until a dark portal opened into which the heart vanished. Then the portal grew larger, until it was as large at the headless horse that the Dullahan had let behind.

And when the portal vanished, it left behind another horse. One that had smooth curves like a stuffed animal and two yellow dots as eyes. Its color was mainly black but all over her body were white symbols like Celtic knots, weaving around its body. But then it stood up and Ji-Han realized that it wasn't a horse, not at all. As at the same time the legs stretched out, a Sergeant-Heartless rightened itself on top of the horse's back. Or rather, the upper body of one, as the hip had been fused to the back of the horse, the legs missing entirely, unless you counted the horse's legs.

But most of all, the Sergeant-portion of the Heartless had no head. Instead, it was carrying a helmet under its left arm, but instead of a visor it head a white and smooth front, where the Heartless-Emblem was placed. Oh, and the right Arm ended in a sword made up out multiple spine segments. Not to forget that.

PING!

{**Quest Alert**

Losing Your Head: Even the Headless Can Do it

Even being a demon, Beldia prides himself being an honorable knight. The rage he felt when his honor was ridiculed this much was used by the Heartless to seize his heart and turn him into one of them.

Defeat Beldia's Heartless, the [Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee].

Bonus Objective:  
1: Defeat the [Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee] with the Keyblade.  
2: Do not use [Card Summoning] during the battle.  
3: Make sure no architecture is damaged during the battle.  
4: Defeat as many [Undead Knight] as possible.  
5: ?

Completion Award: +3 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Aqua won't die for now.  
Increased reputation with the people of the Kingdom of Belzerg.  
Increased reputation with members of the Hero Union.  
Decreased reputation with enemies of the Kingdom of Belzerg

Bonus Award:  
1: +7 000 EXP.  
The enemy will not return later on.  
2: +2 000 EXP.  
You do not need to pay back 27 000 Munny to the Adventurer's Guild.  
3: +5 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Increased reputation with the people of the Kingdom of Belzerg.  
4: A payment of 1 000 000 Munny for every [Undead Knight] defeated.  
5: ?

Completion Failure: +1 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Decreased reputation with the people of the Kingdom of Belzerg.  
Decreased reputation with members of the Hero Union.}

Ah. And there's the quest. Dang it. Looks like they had to fight it, after all. But why was it a bonus objective not to use Card Summoning? And why would he need to pay back money if he does use it.

But all thoughts grinded to a halt when he noticed the Completion Awards.

"It's after Aqua!" He exclaimed as he ran in front of her protectively summoning the Hippocratic Battlefield. Maybe he should switch back to the Binary Spirit. Then, first:

"[Observe]!"

{Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee Lv83  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 12450/12450  
MP: 8188/8188  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Shadow, Bones  
Elemental Resistances: None (0.2), Fight (0.4),  
Darkness (0.9), Bones (0.9), Blood (0.8),  
Rot (0), Poison (0), Space (0.9)  
This Heartless relentlessly chases after its target,  
using its bone whip to capture them and take out their heart.  
STR: 74 VIT: 51 DEX: 75  
INT: 79 WIS: 73 LUK: 63}

"None and Fight-Resistance", Ji-Han quickly relayed. "And stats in the seventies, except VIT which is 51." Mystic and Data, his normal attacks were still good to go but most of his stronger attacks were weakened greatly.

To make matters worse, the enemies did not stand idle by while he studied them. Yes, _enemies_, because the Undead Knights that the Dullahan had originally brought with him, were not vanishing, but instead running towards them on their own. At last those guys didn't have a Fight-Resistance.

"Everybody, light!" Kazuma called out, using [Kindle] to create a small ball of fire. Unfortunately, he was the only one. The other adventurers had already retreated from the approaching army. Both he and Naofumi cursed.

"Let's retreat, too", suggested the Hero of the Shield. "They've got light sources in the town!"

"Someone close the gate!" Shouted Kazuma additionally as they passed it and Ji-Han approved. Let's make good of those walls!

The gate fell shut behind him and the Undead Knights rushed against it like a tidal wave. But for now the gate held. In fact…

"[Heart Key: Close]!"

…Ji-Han made sure the gate would not break, no matter what.

As he turned back around, he noticed that the rest of the adventurers were still there. It seems they only retreated as far as to the safety of the city. Something that Kazuma was instantly using.

"Listen up!" He shouted. "Only a Keyblade can open something that has been closed with a Keyblade! And none of the Undead Knights have ranged attacks! For anyone who can attack them from atop the wall, they are free money and experience!"

With his insider knowledge, the Lucky Thief knew exactly what to say to motivate the people. Becoming stronger and richer fast without any danger to them? Sign them up!

"Just look out for the Heartless", added Ji-Han in response to the adventures with ranged attack eagerly moving towards the top of the wall. "I've gotta kill it with the Keyblade or else it'll just come back again!"

And since it was at a town; that would be pretty bad.

"Ji-Han, Shua", Naofumi now piped up. "Now's a good opportunity to use up your stat points. Shua, put everything into INT and then copy the first ranged attack the Heartless uses." "Smear!" "Ji-Han, decide yourself."

"Right", the Gamer acknowledged. "Also, [Inventory]!" Ji-Han used the opportunity to take out the [White Elf Hair (1cm³)]. "When I was in the other world, I've got this in exchange for a Plushie Coupon."

"…You are going to be insufferable, aren't you?"

Ji-Han just smiled at Naofumi's comment, before getting back to his [Status Window].

{Name: Han, Ji-Han  
Class: The Gamer  
Title: none  
Level: Lv16  
Status: Unaffected

HP: 1100/1100  
MP: 550/550

STR: 48 (40+4+4) ← (+0) →  
VIT: 28 (26+4) ← (+0) →  
DEX: 40 (36+4) ← (+0) →  
INT: 25 (24-3+4) ← (+0) →  
WIS: 30 (26+4) ← (+0) →  
LUK: 17 (13+4) ← (+0) →

Points: 13  
Munny: 2 919 927}

He had 13 points left and STR of 48, while the enemy had VIT of 51. Which meant that he most likely could hurt the Heartless. On the other hand, it had over 10 000 HP, so getting only like 50 damage each time would still take way too many attacks to defeat it. But that didn't matter if he got killed.

Yet with a STR and DEX over 70, would it really matter, if he raised his own DEX and VIT? He wouldn't be able to outrun it or constantly take its hits regardless. He had to trust Naofumi to do that. In which case, taking out the enemy as fast as possible was his most important role! Especially since he had to be the one doing the finishing strike. STR, it was.

PING!

{Since your STR has passed 50,  
you have gained the perk [Athletic Body].}

{[Athletic Body]  
Describes the owner as someone with a healthy body,  
the foundation for a healthy life.  
Increases HP by 50% of max-HP.  
Increases Base-HP-regeneration by 10 HP per minute.  
Increases HP-related skill effects by 30%.}

Holy shit! Ji-Han had thought that he had gotten to know most of his Gamer-ability and yet it suddenly came with something like that! And the perk itself, he finally got passive HP-regeneration! Even if it was only at 10 HP per minute and thus hardly useful for battle, it was the first time, he had any passive HP-regeneration! Thus Ji-Han was really happen, even with such a meager amount. And even that was offset by the increase in healing and maximum HP.

"SMEARGLE!" Shua suddenly shouted, pointing towards the top of the wall and then further up.

Ji-Han followed his paintbrush and got an eye-full of a giant flaming eye straight out of Lord of the Rings, the only exception being that the color of the flames were a sickly purple. And in front of that eye hung the separated head of the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee, staring down at them with its face blank for anything except the emblem.

"[Thousand Feet Charge]!" Naofumi suddenly shouted, followed by Aqua screaming in surprise.

{A party member has been afflicted with [Impaled 150] and [Life Curse 5].}

Ji-Han spun around just in time to see Aqua on her back, frightened staring up at the Hero of the Shield, who was slowly being pushed higher by the bone sword piercing through his back as it rose out of the ground, followed by the straightened upper arm it was fused to and then the rest of the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee.

"Smear!" Shua shouted, shooting one Super Shocker after another at the Heartless, but it did hardly do any damage. The Heartless just swung its sword around, flinging Naofumi through a window, as it caught its head in its hand. It then turned its attention towards the goddess, who was madly scrambling backwards.

Ji-Han jumped forward, attacking its behind with his Hippocratic Battlefield, as he used [Observe] to observe his progress. Around 200, no, 180 per attack? That made it around 100 strikes, didn't it? Of which Ji-Hana managed to get in three before the Heartless spun around and stroke at him with its sword.

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

Luckily Naofumi had gotten back up in that time and protected Ji-Han from inside the house. But as the sword hit the shield, it folded over the edge like a wet towel and would have hit Ji-Han if it had been just a bit longer. But Ji-Han still felt the air current in front of his face and thus could not help but yelp and jump backwards.

Kazuma and Darkness then jumped in from the other side, trying to bait it into turning back, so that Ji-Han could then go at it again, but the strategy failed on account just how pitiful Kazuma's single-HP-damage was compared to The Gamer and Darkness kept missing.

And then the transparent shield vanished, allowing the Nuckelavee to strike at Ji-Han unhindered.

"[Dodge Roll]!"

Ji-Han jumped to the right, allowing him to escape the bone sword and then activated it two more times to get behind the Hero of the Shield who had climbed out of the broken window. Though since the distance between him and the wall had been below six meters at the start, he couldn't stop himself from crashing against it. Or so he though, but instead of a sudden stop, he was continuing the rolling motion against the wall, before ending up standing upright in front of it. Like the wall only stopping his vertical movement yet making him complete the actual motions. Like as if you run against an invisible wall in a video game… oh, now it made sense.

"What are you spacing out for?!" Naofumi chastised him while he was blocking the bone sword and Ji-Han winced. He really had to get out of the habit of getting distracted by game-elements in life and death-battles.

For now he would try and attack the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee from behind the defense that Naofumi provided. However…

"[Inventory]!"

…for that he had to reach the Heartless in the first place. And with its weapon being so long, that was easier said than done. Especially since, compared to the Binary Spirit or even the Gaia Key, the Hippocratic Oath was rather on the shorter side. And since the enemy didn't have a Data-Resistance, he might as well check if it had a Data-Weakness. Or a Mystic one, if the Binary Spirit failed to do much damage.

The results? Somewhere between 120 and 130. So, Mystic seemed to be the way to go, if you looked at damage. Which was unfortunate considering the reach-thing. Especially if one remembered that he had yet to really fight with the Hippocratic Battlefield. He wouldn't be surprised if he at some point missed the enemy because he had been used to having a longer weapon.

Then again, that was generally a problem that showed up with martial artists, wasn't it? He probably hadn't actually trained enough in the – how long was it again – one week? In the week since he got his Keyblade to think of his weapon as "an extension of himself" or something like that. He was more or less just flailing on his enemies, after all.

But as he repeatedly stabbed at the Nuckelavee before retreating behind his human shield, he noticed that he, in fact, was more comfortable with the longer weapon in the current situation. Since he was actually stabbing from behind cover instead of his usual whacking, he was actually mindful to retreat as soon as he had managed to get a hit in to avoid the counterattack. With that in mind, he decided to keep using the Binary Spirit.

Unfortunately, the Heartless had other ideas. It raised its sword into the air and flung it around in a circle. Meanwhile the bone segments separated from each other, connected only by a string. Which tripled the weapon's length and increased the force of the impact to that of a whip. The attack was powerful enough to throw the Hero of the Shield off his feet and into the Gamer, making them tumble over each other.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi quickly activated and with it managed to block the front legs the Nuckelavee had raised to trample them with. More than that, Naofumi also moved the shield upwards, pushing against the surprised Heartless and literally throwing it backwards. Directly on top of Kazuma and Darkness, the former quickly jumping away while the latter actually started blushing, before literally vanished under the bulk.

"Darkness!" Ji-Han shouted out in panic but Kazuma was not worried at all.

"Keep him like that, Darkness!" He told her as he started to attack their enemy while it was down. For a moment Ji-Han was dumbfounded at Kazuma's blasé attitude towards the fate of his party member, but then he remembered that Darkness was a Crusader, the same Class as Naofumi. She probably had enough VIT that it didn't hurt her at all. Thus Ji-Han quickly copied the Lucky Thief in attacking their foe.

{Critical!}

Ji-Han grinned as the Nuckelavee thrashed on the ground in Darkness's grip.

Perfect!

{Critical!}

{Critical!}

Uwak!

After the third Critical Hit in a row, Ji-Han had to abort the attack as one of the hooves nearly hit his head. Shortly afterwards, the Nuckelavee managed to find halt and pushed himself up and swung its sword around, forcing them to retreat out of its range. Everyone except for Darkness, who was clinging to its upper body with all her might.

"Time to show your strength!" Kazuma called out to her as the Heartless buckled like a horse, trying to throw her off. "Squeeze it to death!"

"I don't see any damage", observed Ji-Han as the Nuckelavee rammed Darkness into a wall. Not that it helped much. In fact, even though the Crusader seemed to be panting from the strenuous activity, she seemed to be having the time of her life.

"Are Darkness's gauntlets blessed?" Inquired Naofumi suddenly and Kazuma cursed. Of course the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee would not get any damage. Aqua had only blessed their weapons and thus the Heartless would not get any damage from Darkness's bear-hug no matter her strength.

"Quick, Aqua!" He addressed the goddess, but she just shook her head.

"I can't hit her, when they are moving like that!"

"Then just bless everything!"

"Bless… everything? Got it…" Light particles surrounded her. "I, Aqua, goddess of water commends you… be blessed!" A great wave of light flew out from her, making everything around her sparkle for a moment, before returning to normal.

PING!

{You and your party members have been blessed with  
[Blessing of the Goddess 150],  
[Protection of the Water Goddess 100] and  
[Cheered On ALL 1].}

Oh, so the blessing came with a Cheered On-Effect on all the stats? Nice. Even if it was so low one would not notice it unless they could see it. But more importantly, was it working?

{8818/12450} {8398/12450} {7976/12450} {7555/12450} {7134/12450}

Holy shit. And how it was working! Just what kind of strength did that girl have?! She did more damage than him! Why wasn't the Heartless already on its last leg?

…Right, she first had to hit the enemy, didn't she? Now that she was literally clinging to the Nuckelavee, there was no room for error, no matter how bad she was in swordplay.

{6713/12450} {6292/12450} {5871/12450} {5450/12450} {5029/12450}

And additionally, her high VIT made it so that no matter what the enemy tried, she was practically safe from any retribution.

The Heartless, realizing the futility of the act, stopped and then threw his hands into the air. Which resulted in the head getting send flying high. It stopped there and soon around it appeared the familiar flaming eye. Then the Nuckelavee sank into the ground in such a way that the raised sword was the last to vanish and momentarily gave the impression of a shark's fin, before it too vanished. Darkness meanwhile was left behind on the ground in puzzlement.

"Shua!" Naofumi called out through the voice chat and pointed towards the sky. The Pokémon was quick on the uptake and send a Super Shocker into the sky, only for a wave of purple flames to intercept it like it was literally blinking.

So much for that.

"Watch your surroundings!" Ji-Han called out. "We don't know where it will appear again!"

He turned to the next wall and activated [High Jump], stretching his hand out to reach as far as possible. Which was higher than he first expected as he easily managed to grab the ledge of the roof of the two-story building. Since he didn't just got a level up in High Jump, was his jumping height influenced by STR, too? Nice.

Additionally it helped him pull himself up to the slanted roof without any problem and then to the top. The overview was interrupted at some points by one or two buildings, but it wasn't so densely populated, that he couldn't see most of the roads.

Now, the most likely targets were him and Darkness, who dealt the most damage to him and Aqua, who had been a person of interest from the beginning. Thus he was watching out for these two while having to make sure, the Heartless wouldn't take him by surprise, instead.

Meanwhile Naofumi was directing the strong Darkness, to pick up the goddess and hold her above her head. She screamed at the indignation but Naofumi quickly shut her up. Not that he couldn't understand her. Normally that position would put her pretty much on display like bait. However, since the enemy was going to attack from underground, being on top of another person was actually a pretty safe to be. Something that Naofumi apparently noticed.

So, imagine his surprise, when the Heartless did neither appear below him or the pair of girls, but a good distance away, if in view of them. There it caught the head and then held it in front of the horse one. And then the horse head split open into four parts that folded outwards like a grotesque flower, revealing a single spine and nothing else. Then the Nuckelavee literally attached the human head onto the spine, holding it in place.

And that was just the prelude. Now dozens of ghostly blue flames shot out of the empty neck and towards them.

Ji-Han cursed as he jumped down from the roof and ran towards his friends. Just what they needed, an AoE-attack that hit everything.

"Quick!" He shouted. "Everybody together!"

In haste they scrambled to get together, close enough to let the [Air Strike Shield] protect them all while all around them the flames bombarded the ground.

Or at last; that was what Ji-Han had expected to happen. However, for some reason the ghost flames flew all against the green transparent shield, like they were attracted to it. Or the people behind it. So they weren't AoE but homing?

"Shua!" Naofumi called out and the Pokémon nodded, before pointing the indigo-glowing paintbrush towards the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee. The glow vanished, only to be replaced by a ghostly blue. And then he was the one shooting dozens of ghost flames. They converged onto the Heartless and struck him with a multitude of blows. Blows, which after a while inflicted the same status effect that the Nuckelavee had inflicted earlier on Naofumi: [Life Curse 5].

Then it upgraded to [Life Curse 10] and then [Life Curse 15], before the fires were all spend. But it didn't stop there. Even after the attack was gone, the HP dropped which each second. Together with the Max-HP.

"Naofumi?" He quickly addressed his party member. "Are you alright? You got hit with Life Curse earlier, didn't you?"

"Don't worry", the person in question reassured him. "It went away after a minute. My Max-HP had been restored afterwards, too. Just focus on not getting hit yourself!"

"He won't be able to attack again!" Declared Megumin. "They always said that I am not supposed to use my explosions in the city, but now the enemy to defeat is within it! I shall let him face the might of my explosion!"

"Don't be stupid!" Kazuma chastised her. "It's a Heartless. It has to be killed by the Keyblade, remember? Just go and deal with the Undead Knights outside."

Megumin was sulking as the Nuckelavee galloped towards them, but Kazuma was right. It had like 4.5 thousand HP left, which soon would go down to 4 thousand, if the curse went on for a minute. Soon they would be starting to get to the point where everyone except for Ji-Han had to be mindful of accidentally doing too much damage.

"Han-san?" Suddenly another voice cut in, but because of the charging Heartless, Ji-Han only threw a short glance at the newcomer – only for his head to turn once again, this time in full force as he recognized Kyouya, the owner of the magic sword Gram.

"Kyouya-Ssi?" He addressed the hero, before returning his attention back to the enemy, who was being intercepted by Naofumi. "Are you here to help?"

"Indeed", he confirmed. "With my magic sword Gram I can easily defeat this enemy, if you want me to!"

"Actually, we had just been talking about how we have to make sure that I am the one who kill the Heartless if we don't want it to later reappear", Ji-Han corrected. "So we need someone to block its attacks or get me closer so I can hit it with my sword."

Kyouya looked thoughtfully.

"You mean like Ika-chan?"

"One of your companions?" Ji-Han studied the two girls in question, wondering how they would help.

"Ah, no", Kyouya refuted. "Ika-chan is the employee of the Leon Shop. She can stretch her hair and carry people with it."

"That sounds perfect", noted Ji-Han. "Ika, [Party Invite]!"

But nothing happened. Why? Was it because Ika wasn't her full name? No, he did it generally without. Could he probably not invite people, he hadn't seen yet? He had to test that later. For now Kyouya realized that Ji-Han's method wasn't working and offered to bring her, while he left his two companions behind to help in the effort of stalling the Heartless. Ji-Han emphasized the danger, especially the Life Curse and then welcomed the addition to their fighting force.

Meanwhile the Heartless decided to take it up a notch. It swung its sword and when Naofumi blocked it, separated it into segments in a way that they passed his shield and coiled around his upper arm, allowing the Heartless to drag the Hero of the Shield off his feet and throw him away.

But something on this level was not an issue for the Disillusioned Hero. He just used one [Thousand Feet Charge] and was back instantly, ramming into the Heartless from behind and knock it off its feet.

Ji-Han's eyes nearly gleamed as he noticed this chance for Critical Hits, before reminding his comrades not too attack less they kill it with a Critical Hit. However, when Ji-Han went over to it, it threw its head into the air and sank into the ground, making the Hippocratic Battlefield just crack the street futilely.

Ji-Han cursed.

"Alright, he's gone again. Darkness, get Aqua! Naofumi, take care of Shua!" With the last attack, it might be possible that the agro had shifted. And while it was possible, it would just attack from afar again, being prepared wouldn't hurt.

But as he went towards the previous building, he heard Naofumi shouting "[Air Strike Shield]", followed by a pain in the back. {-170}

Ji-Han was flung forward, rolling over the ground and ended up sprawling upside down against the wall. Which gave him a good view of the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee as it climbed over the green transparent shield.

{You have been afflicted with [Life Curse 5].}

Ji-Han cursed and picked himself up as fast as possible, which was not that easy considering his current position. But he still managed to get up before the Heartless reached him and then used [High Jump] to get back on top of the building, the sword obliterating part of the wall.

Ji-Han quickly pulled himself upwards in haste but as he put his right foot on the edge, he saw the Nuckelavee going for another strike, one directly from below.

"[Dodge Roll]!" He quickly went to the left as the Heartless cut the roof in half, sending tiles flying up into the air and upon Ji-Han. But that was only the first part. Because the supporting structure had been broken, that half of the roof carved in. Only another [Dodge Roll] allowed Ji-Han to get to the other half in time.

"Hopefully these guys have insurance", he mused as he slid down the undamaged half of the roof and jumped back down onto the ground, not wanting to be up there, if the Heartless decided to destroy that half, too.

Suddenly, it became brighter and when Ji-Han turned upwards to the sky, he noticed the flaming eye with the separated head having moved until it was directly above him. Ji-Han had only enough time to register it, before the Nuckelavee broke through the wall, sending broken stone into his back and throwing him forward when its bulk followed. {-82}

When Ji-Han finally came to a halt, he didn't stop there and pushed through the pain to instantly use a series of [Dodge Roll]. All to bring as much distance between them as fast as possible.

{-44}

{You have been afflicted with [Life Curse 5].}

But it wasn't fast enough. The Nuckelavee managed to close the distance and strike him again, sending him flying just like the time before. This was bad, really bad. The [Life Curse] did not care for defense and would take down his HP just the same. But the Heartless would not allow Ji-Han the opportunity to heal. And he really didn't fancy his chances the block the snake sword with his current Guard. He only could think of one thing to help him:

Get better at running away and fast!

Ji-Han jumped forward in a motion he had done so often, but this time he forwent calling out the skill's name. He had already done it before, he just had to do it again! And he did. It was a bit shaky, but he managed to continue running after he had stopping rolling. Which was exactly what he needed.

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 4.}

Alright! Again!

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 2.}

And again!

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 3.}

And a-whoa!

However, this time he tripped and sprawled on the ground.

"[Dodge Roll]!" He quickly activated to avoid the bone whip, using this also as an opportunity to change directions, before trying it the normal way, again, already noticing the difference to before.

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 2.}

Again.

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 1.}

Again.

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 2.}

And in a different direction.

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 2.}

Slowly he was getting the hang of this…

PING!

{By using [Dodge Roll] without using the skill,  
[Dodge Roll]'s level has risen by 1.}

Uwak! Spoke to soon! Another miss!

"[Dodge Roll]! [Dodge Roll]! [Dodge Roll]!"

Noticing that it got enough and not wanting to risk another miss, he went back to vocalizing the skill, literally rolling circles around the Heartless. Who got fed up with not being able to hit him and caught its head. And when it then held the human head above the horse one, Ji-Han knew it was time to book it. He didn't fancy his chances to survive that many attacks concentrated on him. Homing attacks.

Ji-Han cursed and stopped escaping with [Dodge Roll], spun around and raised his Keyblade to stop as many attacks as possible with [Guard] – only for someone else to ram into his back and pushing himself on the ground.

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

Luckily that one was just Naofumi who had used a [Thousand Feet] to reach him and protect him.

"Thanks!" Replied Ji-Han and, seeing as he wasn't on his own anymore, finally activated [Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration] after standing up again. "That was way too close for comfort. Please keep him at bay while I heal."

"Right."

So Ji-Han once again stuck behind the Hero of the Shield while the person in question blocked the attacks of the Nuckelavee. But not to look for opportunities to attack. No, he was way too busy with healing. One look at his [Status Window] showed him that he had gotten way too low, with only like 300 left. And that was after the first seconds of healing. So, yeah, not able to do much besides healing. Luckily they only needed to hold out until Kyouya showed up with Ika.

But the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee had tasted blood and had become a lot more aggressive. He once again threw the head into the air and dived down.

"Be careful", advised Naofumi. "The last time he reappeared out of a dark portal behind you."

Ji-Han cursed. Bosses that ran away and then reappeared wherever they pleased were really the worst.

Ji-Han noticed a change in the lighting and looked up to see the eye moving. And since that one had only moved when it wasn't able to see him, its target…

"It's after someone else! [Dodge Roll]! Kazuma, Shua? Where are you? [Dodge Roll]. It's going after someone else. [Dodge Roll]. Look for the eye. [Dodge Roll]."

"It's not us."

Then where was it going? Aqua was with Kazuma and he had the Keyblade… not out at the moment, since he was healing, but you get the picture. Was there really a target that was more attractive than they?

"Orca!" Suddenly a voice screamed in hysteria and then he saw a silhouette against the red eye in the sky. A silhouetted, coming towards him.

"[Guard]!" He activated, just in time to block two blue tentacles coming at him. Unfortunately that meant that the skill faded out when the actual bulk of the person appeared and fell on top of him, throwing him to the ground.

"Hey, why did you throw my tentacles off-course?!" The person complained.

It was a girl with blue eyes and blue tentacle-like hair peeking out from under a white triangular hat with streamlining fins at the sides. She wore blue transparent and smooth circlets around her wrists and ankles besides her Leon Shop Uniform, which would have clued Ji-Han in to who she was, even if he hadn't seen her name above her head:

[Unsuccessful Invader  
-Leon Shop Employee-  
Lv55 Ika Musume]

"Ji-Han", Naofumi rose his attention, "is she the Ika?"

"Yep, her full name is Ika Musume." Without a surname apparently since there was no comma.

"Of course it is", mused Naofumi shaking his head.

Ji-Han raised an eyebrow at that, but they had more important things to discuss.

"Yes, I am Ika Musume –de geso. What can I help you with?"

"Kyouya-Ssi told us you can carry people with your hair? We need you to get me next to the Heartless, let me hit it with my sword and then drag me out of reach before it can strike back."

"Heartless?" She became fearful. "You don't mean the orca, ika?"

"How did you confuse a Dullahan with an orca?" Mused Naofumi perplexed.

"Technically it's a Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee", corrected Ji-Han. "But whatever it is, it's not an orca."

"Oh, is that so? In which case, I shall show it the power of an invader from the sea!"

"Actually, didn't Kyouya-Ssi tell you that we need you because I have to be the one to deal the finishing blow?"

"Oh, right."

"Get ready!" Interjected the Hero of the Shield. "It's coming!"

And indeed, there it was, galloping towards them. The flaming eye like a herald above it.

"Ika-Yang, [Party Invite]!"

"Wa- What is this?!"

Ji-Han quickly explained the Gamer and the voice chat and then the Nuckelavee was already upon them with Naofumi moving to intercept it.

"Alright, Ika-Yang, you know what to do!"

"Yes!"

Ika wrapped one of her ten hair-tentacles around his waist and moved him up into the air and towards their opponent. Who did notice the new approach and swung his snake sword in his direction. But luckily Ika was on the ball and moved him back out of range, before shooting him forward like lightning, Keyblade first. The Heartless once again tried to hit him, but he was already gone, only to strike once more when the attack had passed.

Ika's control over her tentacles was really spectacular. She was moving them around like arms with an unlimited number of joints, even able to make angular shapes to avoid the weapon. And they were fast, too, easily able to draw circles around the enemy without problem. In fact, it went so well that after the first few times, Ji-Han opened the [Inventory] and changed his Binary Spirit to Hippocratic Battlefield and Ika could easily compensate for the shorter Keyblade with her tentacles.

It was clear that she was the real VIP of the battle and he was just being dragged along so that Ika could use his Keyblade, but as long as they finally managed to take down that Heartless, he didn't care. Especially since the fight had been dragging on for who knows how long already and he just wanted it to be over.

Unfortunately, the Nuckelavee still had over 2000 HP left. Enough to throw a wrench into their plans. Once more it sank into the ground, making Ji-Han miss it again. But this time it did not stay underground for long but instantly showed up, directly below Ika. The tentacle girl jumped up in panic; with which I meant, she slammed two of her free tentacles into the ground and pushed herself into the sky, avoiding the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee. Then she returned the tentacles to her, leaving her airborne. Together with Ji-Han, who she had dragged with her, too.

"Throw me!" Ji-Han told her and so she did, moving the specific tentacle back a bit, before flinging it forwards with all her might. Like a meteor Ji-Han fell from the sky, ramming the Keyblade into the center of the upper body of the Heartless.

Ji-Han smiled as the HP reached 0. The Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee did one slow step, another one, then sank onto its knees.

PING!

{A skill has been created through a specific action.}

{A skill to maintain one's balance,  
[Balance], has been created.}

{[Balance (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
A skill to keep to the line of gravity regardless of footing.  
Reduces sway by 3 %.}

Huh. Didn't expect to get a skill like that. Especially not when trying not to fall down from a dying enemy…

Ji-Han's attention was quickly taken by the head of the Heartless, who fell onto the ground in front of him and shattered, revealing a large crystalline heart, which rose into the air and vanished, followed shortly by the rest of the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee.

{+155 625 EXP}

PING!

{Your level went up by 2.}

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Losing Your Head: Even the Headless Can Do it].  
Completion Award: +3 000 EXP to you and every party member.  
Aqua won't die for now.  
Increased reputation with the people of the Kingdom of Belzerg.  
Decreased reputation with enemies of the Kingdom of Belzerg

Bonus Award for  
[Defeat the [Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee] with the Keyblade.]:  
+7 000 EXP.  
The enemy will not return later on.

Bonus Award for  
[Do not use [Card Summoning] during the battle.]:  
+2 000 EXP.  
You do not need to pay back 27 000 Munny to the Adventurer's Guild.}

Alright! With this the battle was finally over.

"Thanks, Ika-Yang, you've been a big help."

"Hahaha! See that?! That's the might of an invader from the sea!"

Ji-Han smiled as the self-proclaimed invader landed next to him and gave the rest of his teammates the good news through the voice chat:

"Everybody, relay the message, the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee is down! Let's meet up at the guild building for a debriefing!"

"Right!"

Good. With that cleared, he could finally look at the Loot.

"You've still got to reopen the gate", reminded Naofumi him. "And see if the rest of the Undead Knights has been dealt with."

Ah, right, there was that, too. Ji-Han quickly stored the Munny, the two potion bottles and the book in the inventory, deciding to look at them later.

Fortunately, when they got to the gate, one of the adventurers there reported that they had dealt with all the Undead Knights. The only thing left was the headless horse that Beldia had brought with him before he turned into a Heartless. And even though it had no eyes, Ji-Han couldn't help but feel as if it stared at him, before turning around and walking away. As he dispelled the lock on the gate with [Heart Key: Open] he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed an opportunity.

* * *

"[Heart Key: Close]!"

PING!

{[Heart Key: Close]'s Level has risen by 1.}

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[The World's Heart: 114-11-8315-yvy-epxpz].  
Completion Award: +25 000 EXP to you and every party member not from that world.  
The world is not devoured by darkness.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
Increased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.}

PING!

{Gratitude from a world has created the keychain [Afterlife Fantasy].}

{[Afterlife Fantasy]  
Element: Mystic  
Damage: +3  
Range: Long  
+10% EXP-gains to purifying abilities.}

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Grinding for Money: Who Doesn't Want to Be a Millionaire?].  
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Increased reputation with Satou, Kazuma.  
Decreased reputation with Aqua, Megumin and Dustiness Ford Lalatina.

Bonus Award for  
[Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 200 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.]:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (inferior).  
Increased reputation with Satou, Kazuma.

Bonus Award for  
[Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 500 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.]:  
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (normal).  
Increased reputation with Satou, Kazuma.

Bonus Award for  
[Help Kazuma Satou gain at last 1 000 000 Munny by defeating Heartless and monsters.]:  
+4 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
Manatite Crystal (superior).  
Increased reputation with Satou, Kazuma.}

Wow, that were quite a lot of things happening. Even if he could have anticipated most of them. They were, after all, following after he had closed the keyhole to the world, which showed itself when they went back to the guild building. So, besides the quest for saving the world, there was also the quest for getting Kazuma money, which now came to a close. Speaking of, where were the Manatite Crystals? Did they get send directly into his inventory? Not to mention there were still the item drops from the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee he had to look through.

But that was something he could deal with later. For now he had to meet up with his party members.

"What do you mean there won't be any reward money?!" Aqua's shrill voice was the first thing that greeted him upon entering.

"I am sorry", Luna responded apologetic in face of the angry goddess. "But as the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee was a recent enemy, there had been no time to issue a reward for its defeat."

"That's just excuses!" She declared. "Beldia was still a General of the Demon Lord's army! There should be at last some reward for even participating in the battle!"

"Do I have to remind you that it was the actions of you and the rest of your party that resulted in Beldia turning into a Heartless in the first place?" She chastised, making the goddess flinch. "If Ji-Han hadn't been here, who knows what would have happened. You should count yourself lucky nobody decided to bill you for that neglect!"

"I hope nobody thinks about billing us for the building the Heartless decided to destroy when he went after Ji-Han", Naofumi threw in, redirecting the attention towards himself. "Because in that case, it will be a long time until we decide to go after any more Heartless again."

"Of course not!" Luna was quick to reassure them. "The guild is more than equipped to handle the costs of a single house. But in cases of great vandalism, not even your status as the only Keyblade Wielder will protect your from the repercussions."

"I don't plan on flaunting my status like that in any way", Ji-Han defended himself, nudging Naofumi to stop him from unnecessarily antagonizing the guild. "I actually already closed the keyhole on the way in and plan on coming back later when I am stronger to deal with the stronger Heartless like the Underground Monkey."

"Coming back?" Repeated Kazuma. "Does that mean you are leaving?"

Ji-Han nodded.

"I'll most likely get the quest for closing another keyhole soon", he explained. "Probably once I check into the spaceship. So, once I finished up everything here, we'll be going."

"Fina- I mean, already?" That was Aqua, probably happy that Kazuma wouldn't be their party member much longer. Not that Darkness and Megumin weren't the same, but they were better in hiding it.

"That's right", confirmed Naofumi. "So let's hurry up and get down to business! How is the Lake Cleaning Quest coming along?"

"Ah, right!" Exclaimed Aqua happily, remembering that she was still getting money for other reasons and urged Kazuma to officially complete the quest.

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Exploration Quest: Purify the Riverhead Lake].  
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.  
You can buy [Water Goddess Hair (1cm³)] from Aqua for 1 000 000 Munny.  
Increased reputation with Aqua, Satou Kazuma, Megumin and Dustiness Ford Lalatina.}

After receiving the notification, he took a million Munny out of his [Status Window], which transformed into a stack of paper bills and gave it to the goddess, who gave part of her hair in return. He then gave the hair to Naofumi, together with the Manatite Crystal of lowest quality, who absorbed them both.

"Anything good?" Asked Ji-Han interested and Naofumi nodded.

"The Manatite Crystal Shield increases my Max-MP while the Water God Shield gives permanent high Water-Resistance and even medium Water-Absorption when equipped. Which means I can heal myself when attacked with Water attacks."

"So it was worth the million Munny", noted Ji-Han satisfied. "Next on the list, the results of the battle. I've leveled up twice, just like Kazuma-Ssi, Naofumi leveled up once and Shua even thrice. Kazuma should use up his points while he's still one of our party members. I'll keep my points in reserve like usual and I am guessing you two will do the same, right?"

No objections, but Shua held up his brush, pointing with his free hand at it.

"Right, you got another Sketch didn't you?"

"Smear!"

"Right, so what should he forget…"

"I suggest Power Strike", Naofumi interjected. "He had copied this skill for quite a time and we meet too many enemies that have a Fight-Resistance of some kind. The sound wave is our only area-of-effect skill, the ghost flames are incredibly powerful and he needs to keep Super Shocker because it doesn't have an MP-Cost."

"You are right", agreed Ji-Han. "Power Strike it is. And considering how it's better for Shua to attack from behind you, why don't we try to make him a ranged attacker in general? He definitively put enough points into INT for the fight with the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee."

Shua agreed, which left only one thing on Ji-Han's list: The Loot. Though besides the money and potion bottles, he only really had gotten one thing: The skill book. So, Ji-Han took it out and this time did not instantly dismiss the message that popped up:

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Astral Projection].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

"What is that?" Kazuma inquired curiously and Ji-Han quickly explained how his Gamer interacted with books.

"The skill this book would give me is Astral Projection" Ji-Han finished. "With is something like leaving your body and controlling your soul, if I remember correctly."

"It is", confirmed Kazuma. "Does that mean you now get third-person view, too?"

Ji-Han paused. Oh, god, he was right. The third-person perspective was something that was a staple of some video game franchises, if not even most of them. And not too few games even allowed one to switch between first- and third-person perspectives. However, since there were a bunch of games only in first-person view and the real-life was naturally in first-person view, too, he had not been surprised, when his Gamer did not come with the option to change the perspective.

But now he actually got a skill that would take the role of that. A skill that an enemy used before. Not only that, it was a skill he heard of in myths at home. It was quite funny, how something like that would mimic a game mechanic.

But when he went to accept the skill, he got stumped by a sudden roadblock.

{You cannot learn this skill.}

{Required INT: 30  
Required WIS: 30}

"Stat restrictions?!" Exclaimed Ji-Han in surprise. "Skill books come with stat restrictions?!" Sure, he knew that was in thing in some games, but since he hadn't seen them in any of the skill books he had used before, it took him by surprise.

"There's still stuff you don't know about your ability?" Wondered Kazuma and Ji-Han shrugged.

"Since I don't get a manual for the ability, I only get new information on it, when I stumble upon it like this", he explained. "I don't even know if I got all the big revelations or if there's still some video game aspect that I am missing. I mean, just this battle I found out that I can get new perks when my stats reach a certain value."

"Let's talk about that one later", interjected Naofumi. "How many points are you missing for the book?"

"Oh, [Status Window]. Looks like I am good with WIS but my INT still needs 5."

"Then that should be something you can achieve by studying, right?" Ji-Han winced. He really wanted to see how the skill was, but Naofumi wasn't wrong. He had to keep his points for things he really needed.

With a sigh, he put away the book and the Hero of the Shield addressed the perks.

"Like I said", continued Ji-Han. "I got a new Perk when my STR hit 50 called [Athletic Body]. It increases my Max-HP, the effectiveness of HP-related skills and gives me an HP-regeneration of 10 per minute."

"That doesn't sound like much", noted Kazuma and Ji-Han nodded.

"True, but since I didn't have any passive HP regeneration before, I take what I can get."

"It's still not useful for combat", the Hero of the Shield pointed out. "Maybe reaching 100 STR will increase it."

"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han. "Grinding my stats, got it. Anyone else anything to address?"

Nobody raised their voice.

"Looks like this is it", mused Kazuma. "Thanks for letting me team up with you. Don't be a stranger and call from time to time, will you?"

"Call? The Voice Chat doesn't reach into other worlds…"

Kazuma stared at him blankly.

"Did you forgot the Hero Chat already?"

"Oh, right, there was that, too, wasn't it? Come to think of it, I do want to browse through the forums a bit and see what they've got. Maybe I could do it while grinding VIT or Food Preparation…"

"Didn't you just say, you would grind your INT", Naofumi reminded him and Ji-Han sighed.

Right, first business than pleasure, right?

"Smeeeaaar", Shua suddenly complained, tugging at Ji-Han's sleeve and rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, you are tired? It is getting late, isn't it?" The Gamer noted.

"That is as good as a cue to leave as any", added Naofumi as he held out his hand. Ji-Han quickly said proper goodbies to the adventurers and then they went away, closing the chapter on the second world. Or third if you counted Cantehill.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

Damn, the Heartless just did not want to die. But he was way too strong to be easily defeated by the current party members. There were multiple moments were I thought "Is that it?" only to realize that there was no way the Nuckelavee could not get out of this situation and so the battle continued Heck, I had planned for Ji-Han to finish the battle before Ika showed up, but he was just too slow.

It certainly wouldn't be so bad, if I didn't remember parts of the previous version of the fight like Ika being there around halfway, but without any memory of how I got to that point.

On another note, Kazuma and his party had quite a lot of Luck that the first General they fought was Beldia. I am not going to go into detail but with him turning into a Heartless – something that's been helped with by the cast showing up so late, not to mention their usual antics – things changed. A lot of the things that Kazuma tried in canon, would not be applicable in these circumstances.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	16. Chapter 15: GIRL

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **merendinoemiliano** and **AGuyInTheKnow**.

**AGuyInTheKnow**:

1\. Well, I thought I was pretty clear that I wouldn't keep everything from canon Kingdom Hearts, but the creation of Emblem-Heartless wasn't one of the things I wanted to change. Yet all my conclusions from the wiki pointed me to that there are two ways to turn someone into an Emblem-Heartless. A fatal attack from a Heartless and falling to Darkness. The cut scene you mentioned being the first of the two. But since everyone always talked about how they are created when a heart falls to darkness, I assumed, there had to be a second method.

And, after some new research, I found an example for the second method: Sköll. That guy turned into an Emblem-Heartless without another Heartless being present or getting forced to transform. Though you could argue that the visuals I've chosen for the transformation into a Heartless were wrong since I did chose them from the cut scene in KH1 where Heartless are present.

2\. Okay. I'll try to make him more giddy and happy on the thought of getting more magic, since it's clear that he likes magic more than the physical stuff. Though I still haven't seen anything that tells me my decision for Ji-Han to pick the sword had been out-of-character. Even if he does like magic more, he's such a goofball, he still would have chosen the sword, just to conform to stereotypes. Especially since he was thinking, he was dreaming.

Chapter 15: GIRL

Since Traverse Town was just two hours away from the Kingdom of Belzerg, they naturally made it to there before they woke up. So, after they woke up, any plans of grinding his stats high enough to learn the new skills had been put on hold until they sold the Vendor Trash at the Leon Shop and decked themselves in with more supplies – if mostly water since Ji-Han hadn't gotten the opportunity to cook with anything except for the Oumukade Flesh. But if they bought enough, they could maybe even deal with both worlds, before returning to Traverse Town. And yes, when Ji-Han had went to the board computer, he had gotten quests for two worlds to close the keyhole of, [123-21-2311-bul-qgsgp] and [115-42-2345-csb-otqkr].

Not that anyone could tell what these worlds were about just with the ID. And both gave 35 000 EXP upon completion, so the only aspect they could base their next target of, was the time it took to travel to it. So they planned to travel to the closest world from Traverse Town and, if the second world was closer to the first than Traverse Town, continue in the direction or return otherwise.

But still, there was no rush. Luckily they didn't need to hurry up thanks to Zelretch modifying their spaceship. It still didn't help there mood when they went to the Leon Shop and noticed it closed. Just like all the other shops in the Shopping Arcade.

In the end, Ji-Han actually had been grinding, after all. Though since he still couldn't concentrate on studying for hours on end, he still went running a lot. And so, like he had planned, he was mentally looking through the Hero Union BBS while his body was working out.

So, the first he looked at was the Account-section. It allowed him to change his name, enable or disable profanity and decide which communication-method to allow. The rest of the tags, Personal Threads, Contacts, Hero Chat and Alerts were pretty much straight forward. Only Traffic Stats was worth mentioning, as it was a series of diagrams showing how many threads and posts he published, how many people had read those threads as well as a history of the locations where he had been so far after becoming a member of the Hero Union and for how long.

Though it kinda surprised him that he had only been in the Digital World like a minute. Had that world really that much of a time difference compared to everything else? Seriously, with that much time difference, he had to watch out that the DigiDestined were even still alive if he decided to visit them. Or, on a lighter note, they could have already saved the world and gotten send back home. Nonetheless, it meant that Ji-Han would not meet them again if he decided to revisit the Digital World. Which was kind of a pity, but he guessed that was the fate of a multiverse traveler.

Since he couldn't do anything about it, he put that matter aside and started looking at the actual forums. First the Hero Coordination Board, where the most read threads were things like {You're not alone! Active hero assistance thread}, {Useful information for traveling}, as well as {All you need to know about Heartless}. The first and last didn't really tell him anything he didn't already know, but the second had information on camping and food preparation, especially useful for those ending up in worlds or places low on resources.

There was also a thread called {How to improve the living conditions in a low-technology world}, which had instructions on how to make things that he in Korea had been taken for granted like paper or glass. However, they all came with a disclaimer that the rules of physics sometimes did not work like in most worlds and that in some worlds trying to bring technological advancement meant pissing off the ruling class. One "Active Hero: Merchant (Dragon's Valley)" even warned that where he was, the world itself acted against anyone who tried to do so. And considering what the Seeker of Truth had said about his own Gaia, he was inclined to belief him. So, like he was not going to invite summoned or other to the world important people into his spaceship, he also had to refrain from giving the people any additional knowledge. Maybe he should make a thread on things that could piss off worlds…

Closing the thread he looked for another interesting one and literally halted in his tracks. The thread he had found? {Memorial to dead heroes}. Ji-Han opened it and came to a row of posts containing the name of a dead hero, their cause of death as well as link to a different thread were people could talk and mourn about the hero in detail.

And, to his shock, besides on "Active Hero: Laid-Back Swordmaster (Ixphoria)", all of the first deaths that did not have "died after reaching the end of their lifespan" as cause of death were from the Kingdom of Belzerg. As in, the world where he had just been in! Did Kazuma and Kyouya know?

And before he could calm down, he already got the next shock, as the most common cause of death turned into "world got destroyed by Heartless".

"Active Hero: Unconventional Barrister (Lunolde)", "Active Hero: Rave Master (Raregroove Kingdom), "Retired Hero: Peach Boy (272 Narakas)", "Active Hero: Super Dreadnaught Girl (Parallel Universe #23)", "Retired Hero: King (Eshalotto)".

It seemed that the Heartless had cut their bloody path even through the Hero Union. Not by actually killing a lot of heroes themselves, but by devouring their worlds while they were on it, probably even in defense of it. No wonder the chat had exploded when they realized who he was. He was their hope to the end of a long and impossible fight.

Not feeling like looking at the other stuff, he closed the BBS and went back to grinding.

* * *

"That will be 6000 Munny, is that alright?" Raul Chaser asked and Ji-Han nodded. With one Creeper Root being worth 1200 Munny, they went for 600 the last time, they sold them, too. And so he quickly pocketed the money, before he joined Shua in picking out what they might need for the next journey. Naofumi meanwhile was at the Akechi's, selling the cotton. Since they had been able to sell all the other drop items in the Kingdom of Belzerg; that was really the only thing left and so Naofumi should return soon…

Just as he had thought that, the door opened. Though it wasn't Naofumi who went in. Instead it was a pair of women and a dog. A young woman and a girl with her pet, which Ji-Han all actually knew.

[-Tera Guardian Princess-  
Lv? Kuro]

[Sudden Anemia  
-Tera Guardian Contractee-  
Lv1 Otohime, Mutsumi]

"Ah, Han-san, good morning", greeted Mutsumi. "I have heard you have managed to find some companions and even saved a world already?"

"Good morning", Ji-Han greeted back. So it was morning? That explained why no shop had been open earlier. "Technically I have already saved three worlds, though one was just circumstantial. I had been summoned as a hero to defeat the demon lord and the world decided I should rather go and close the keyhole before leaving."

"Wait", interjected Kuro, "doesn't that mean you left a world behind without a hero to defend it?"

"Ah, no worries. Sage from the Hero Union came over and helped them get a replacement. Or rather, he was going to when I left. And Student said that he is like the go-to person for that, so it should be in good hands."

"Smear?"

"Ah, let me introduce my first companion, Shua. He's a Pokémon that Count D had entrusted to me, so that I can find his homeworld."

"Good morning."

"Hello."

"Smear!"

"My other companion is Iwatani Naofumi, the Hero of the Shield. Though even so he's called like that he isn't a member of the Hero Union."

"The Hero of the Shield?" Repeated Kuro. "We had someone like that here?"

"Yes", Ji-Han confirmed, "hey, in fact, just look at Raul-Ssi if you want. Picture him in leather armor with a metal breastplate, a green mantle and a fur collar and you've got Naofumi. They look pretty close to the same so you can easily recognize him like that, right?"

The door opened again.

"Oh, is that him-"

Before he had finished, Kuro had already spun around and ran towards the Hero of the Shield, before literally jumping him.

What the-

"Don't come in here!" She shouted before she slammed into the surprised Hero of the Shield and together they tumbled out of the Leon Shop.

"Naofumi?" Ji-Han exclaimed dumbfounded, before they all quickly followed the two outside.

"Get off me!" Demanded Naofumi but Kuro just clung onto him even more.

"Don't go in there!" She pleaded. "If a person meets their doppelganger, one of them is going to die!"

Naofumi just stared at her.

"Is that so in your world?"

Kuro froze. She let go of the Hero of the Shield, slowly backing up.

"Right… this isn't my world anymore… I am glad…" She sat on the ground, sobbing, while Mutsumi hugged her and petted her back saying "There, there."

Ji-Han stood awkwardly next to them, not knowing what to say or do. Fortunately, he didn't need to think of anything as Naofumi came to his rescue, reminding him that they were going to buy stuff. So Ji-Han quickly followed the Hero of the Shield with Shua, continuing to prepare for the journey.

* * *

"A sword technique?" Repeated Tohko Ji-Han's odd request and the Gamer nodded.

"To defeat the Heartless I need to do hit them with my Keyblade. But so far my only special technique I can use multiple times is Fight-elemental. So, as soon as the enemy got a resistance to that, I am forced to go with normal attacks. So something like setting my sword aflame would be really great!" That a flaming sword was also really cool was also a nice bonus.

Unfortunately, Tohko had to disappoint him.

"None of the books I have really gave the impression of adding their elements to a sword", she explained. "Only some who can make weapons on their own, but that is not what you need." True. Even if that would be pretty cool. "But I do have some that improve physical abilities if you want some of those instead."

"That actually sounds pretty good", decided Ji-Han. Physical enhancements would stack with any physical attack he used, be it a skill like Power Strike or his normal attacks, no matter if the Keyblade counted as a blunt or slashing weapon. "Lead on."

So, he followed Tohko back to the place with all the magical books. Though before the book girl took out any of the magical books, she turned back to Ji-Han and asked him how much he would be willing to spend on any of them. The answer to that question was two million.

"A book with reinforcement for two million", she repeated. "That would mean… this one." She took out one with a shining black surface. "This one…" Followed by a simple green one." And…no, that was it. There are two more but those have a value of over 500 and 800 million." She gave the books to Ji-Han.

"The black one is 952 000 Munny and the green one is 629 000."

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Obsidian Magic: Obsidian Skin].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Drug Magic: Muscle Explosion].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

The first one was pretty easy to figure out. If you looked at the name, it was clearly a defense-enhancing ability. Not exactly what he had been looking for, but not bad either. The second one, however, was a bit different. Not too much, but taking the name at face-value, it would increase his muscles, which generally meant STR but also could increase DEX or VIT. The most problem Ji-Han had with this skill was that it was "Drug Magic". It wouldn't surprise him, if it had some negative consequences, like reducing his INT and WIS at the same time it raised his other stats.

On the other hand, he had enough Munny that he could easily buy both skills and still have some over. And with a bit over 600 000 Munny it was even less expansive then the Breeze of Regeneration he had bought.

So, in the end Ji-Han decided to buy both, after all.

Unfortunately…

{You cannot learn this skill.}

{Required INT: 30}

…Obsidian Skin needed 30 INT to learn. And Muscle Explosion…

{You cannot learn this skill.}

{Required INT: 35  
Required WIS: 25}

What?! Why did the muscle enhancement need more INT that the other one?!

Ji-Han shook his head and sighed. So much for that.

* * *

"Tohko-Ssi?" He turned back to her. "Please give me some school books, too."

"Excuse me! How can I get my hands on a shield like yours?" When they left the book shop, they were stopped by a girl with brown eyes, smooth, shoulder-length black hair with a cowlick on top of it. She wore a school uniform consisting of a black blazer, a blue checked skirt and a blue tie.

[Lv2 Honjou, Kaede]

The girl was currently admiring Naofumi's seashell-encrusted Water God Shield, studying it from all sides excitedly. The Hero of the Shield meanwhile, did not really like all that attention.

"This shield is a legendary weapon I got from a world", he rebuked her annoyed. "It is not something you can get by pestering someone about it."

"Oh, that's a pity", she exclaimed, seemingly not bothered by Naofumi's attitude. "Then do you know where I can get a shield – ah, no, I first got to get some money, right? Or is there some place with a shield as a treasure?"

"What kind of convenient world did you live in?" Retorted the Hero of the Shield, shaking his head. "If you want a shield you have to get someone to make you one."

"But for that I need money, right? Izu said it was like a million, right?"

"I think basic armor, shields and weapon should be less expensive…" Mused Ji-Han and Kaede nodded.

"Ah, right, I haven't even gotten the starter gear, yet!"

"Starter gear?" Repeated Naofumi. "Do you think this is a game?!"

Kaede looked at him confused.

"It isn't? Wasn't this the second floor?"

"This is Traverse Town, a world made out of the remnants of the worlds that have been devoured by Heartless", explained Naofumi. "How do you not know that? When did you get to Traverse Town?"

"Oh, eh, this… night?"

"It's always night in Traverse Town", Ji-Han waved here response away. "How often did you go to sleep?"

"Now that you mention it, I do am starting to get a little sleepy…"

In other words, she came to Traverse Town just this day. However…

"…that shouldn't be possible!" Declared Ji-Han. "I've been traveling the last week from world to world to close their keyholes and save them from the darkness! And so far I haven't failed once! There shouldn't be people who have been stranded in Traverse Town for less than that!"

"Not necessarily", interjected Naofumi. "If a world does not trust any outsider, it would not ask for your help, even if it was besieged by Heartless."

"…Or it might only do so once it's too late", realized Ji-Han. "Since Zelretch's Kaleidoscope only activated if I accepted the quest, there might not have been enough time between the world asking for help and the next time I hit the bridge of the spaceship. And there are some worlds were the time just flows by like the Digital World. So even if I do my best, I can still not protect every world."

How depressing.

"Ehm", interrupted Kaede. "I think you lost me. What is this talk about worlds, keys and children's toys?"

"You see", began Ji-Han. "It's like this…"

Kaede took the explanation as well as expected. At first she actually had been enthusiastic about getting "Isekaied", until she realized that unlike the stories where a character gets send to another world during playing their favorite game, she didn't get her avatar's powers.

And then it sank in that with "destruction of the world", it also meant that all her friends and family had been lost with it.

"Are… are you telling me that everyone… everyone… is dead?" She finally brought out and Ji-Han winced.

"Technically… I am on a mission to restore all the worlds and thus the people in it", he began, "but…"

Ji-Han still remembered what Seikuu said about hope and he didn't want Kaede false one that would just turn into despair when he could not fulfill it. Turning her into a Heartless. _Just like Akari._

"…I have no idea when that would happen." He continued. "It could be in a year, it could be in a decade and maybe I would still be at in in a century. Since I don't age, I will only stop if something kills me, but I don't know if you will still be around to witness it."

With that Ji-Han had made the situation clear enough that there should be no false hope that would later on turn into despair. Now he had to make sure she did not turn into a Heartless this very moment.

"That said… you are still alive. And no matter how cheesy that sounds, I am pretty sure your friends and family would want you to keep on living for them. Like, they would be happier knowing that you did not give up. If you fall into despair and turn into a Heartless, that's it; and not even I will be able to change it.

So, to copy what people said to me when I ended up here, find yourself something to do. Talk to many people, see what they do and find your own place. The restaurant Wagnaria, the inn Konohanatei, the Leon Shop, one of the other shops, the Hospital, the TSAB, the Time-Space Administration Bureau. There are many things you can do, either in Traverser Town or, if you go with the TSAB or the Leon Shop, in other worlds, if you want to see them. Heck, if you want you can even join us in our quest to restore the worlds. Though in that case you should first train a bit."

"Oh", she inquired with sparkling eyes. "You mean like a hero?!"

"Right", Ji-Han confirmed. "But in that case you should train a bit. We do get into life and death battles, after all. And you really shouldn't decide on something like that before you've seen the Heartless."

"…right."

"Alright! [Status Window]! Here's 3000 Munny. I've had that much, when I started out, too. Now, I'll teach you the most important skill in Traverse Town: Calling for the Delivery God Yato. All you have to do is pray for him. And wait a bit. After that, he'll show up and for 50 Munny does most stuff you asks of him. Like getting escorted to other places."

"A god? A real god?!"

"Yep, a real god. So, try it out."

"Yes!"

Kaede folded her hands and closed her eyes.

"Dear God Yato", she muttered. "Please come and…" She opened her eyes again. "…Why am I calling him again?"

"So that he can escort you to the White Ant. There you can get a map and a list of available jobs, so that you can get an overview of things one can do in Traverse Town. Now, do you want to do it on your own or would you prefer if I come with you?"

"Ah, please don't waste too much time on me", she answered him. "I would feel bad if I held you back from saving other worlds."

To be fair, they had technically all the time in the world; but that was only for the worlds they currently had a quest for. And while he really could do nothing to prevent worlds asking him too late, unless he were to constantly stay on the bridge looking for incoming "calls", his speech to Kaede had revealed one other problem with taking his time. Namely, the people stranded in Traverse Town would grow older, while the people currently lost would probably not. If he wanted Kaede to be reunited with her friends, he had not _all_ the time in the world. The more time he took, the older she became. This was especially true for all the other people who had come to Traverse Town before he appeared.

It would suck if he managed to restore the worlds and then a resident of Traverse Town would pass away the next day in the arms of their loved ones for whom just a day had passed? Not to mention those that actually had passed already away.

So if Kaede didn't want to keep him waiting, he should honor her wish. Though he still stuck around until Yato showed up so that she wouldn't be attacked by Heartless while she was alone. But he did study during that time and afterwards it was instantly getting to the spaceship and starting the new journey. Especially, since one of the worlds was away three and a half days, while the other was five. So, yeah, the earlier they started the batter. And if for some reason they were not ready by the time they got to the world, like his new skills still not having leveled up enough, they had enough food that they could orbit the world for a few days to prepare themselves.

* * *

{You have slept for eight hours in a comfortable bed.  
Your HP and MP have been fully restored.}

"[Night Eye]!"

At this point it had already become a routine for Ji-Han to use a skill right after he woke up and it changed only which one and for how long. In this case, he did not use Night Eye until his MP was near 0, since they had already reached the other world and might go down any day now. The reason why they hadn't already the day before had been, not his new skills like they had expected, but Naofumi needing more time to master his new shields.

That was not to say that the new skills Astral Projection, Obsidian Skin and Muscle Explosion were already on a useable level. No, but they had too high of an MP-Cost for Ji-Han to use them for anything except short bursts anytime soon.

For example, Astral Projection at level 30 cost 14 MP every _second_. The same with Obsidian Skin at level 20, only with 26 MP per second. Considering his MP regeneration was counted in the minutes with using up all his points on WIS and even with Meditation at level 21, there was never a time where he could continuously activate either of them. That Astral Projection negated the effects of Meditation while in use, was just the icing on the cake.

Muscle Explosion was not even a continuous skill, but one that he had to activate every time manually and then he gained an increase in STR for a fixed duration. At level 3 it cost 50 MP to increase his STR by 7 with the effect holding for 12 seconds. So, while he did not get any negative effects like he had originally expected, it wasn't the game-breaking skill he had hoped for either. Especially considering how much he had to study to even be able to learn the skill.

So, what he had been grinding the last day instead of the new skills were High Jump, Night Eye and LUK. Funnily enough, playing cards actually did raise his LUK. It just was an incredible slow process. Even with a LUK lower than 20, it had taken him longer than increasing his INT over 30. So really not something he should be wasting time with, unless he combined it with something else like leveling up High Jump.

So that was what he had done the day before. What about today?

When Ji-Han went to the canteen, Shua hadn't been there and neither had Naofumi in the Training Room. It looked like they were still asleep, meaning he had to do something he could do on his own.

He activated the Training Program, specifically the Combat Mode and chose a certain Heartless as his opponent: The Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee. This was not done as a form of stress relief or to see if he was now strong enough to take it on. No, it was just rather good at coming relentlessly after him, which was enough of a threat to allow him to grind Dodge Roll by using it manually. After all, if there was no enemy, it still only counted as training and so he didn't get the jump in proficiency he got when he managed to pull it off in the middle of combat. Just like he needed a combat-situation to increase his Keyblade Mastery and co.

Speaking of…

Ji-Han summoned his Keyblade "Afterlife Fantasy". It was made up out of multiple parts resembling one of Kazuma's party members. The hilt looked similar to the top of Megumin's staff but instead of the red orb it had a green and an orange jewel that resembled what Kazuma used to hold his cape in place. The blade resembled a normal sword, but the teeth were in the shape of Darkness shoulder feathers wrapped around its tip and the key chain looked like Aqua's hair clip.

But what was the most special compared to the others was, that it was the longest of all the Keyblades currently in his possession. Which was why he opened his inventory and switched it with the Binary Spirit, the shorter of his two Slashing-type Keyblades. That one had a lower chance of messing up his attempts of manually using Dodge Roll.

This finished, he activated the training program. Let's see how high he could get Dodge Roll before Naofumi showed up!

* * *

"Parkour?" Inquired Naofumi as he entered the training room. "That is unusual for you, isn't it?"

Inside the room were multiple platforms floating in the air and multiple Air Soldiers carrying around Bizarre Archers, taking pot-shots at the Gamer as he jumped down from one such platform.

"[Training Pause]", Ji-Han spoke up as he noticed the newcomer, halting all the enemies and their projectiles in mid-air.

"Hi", he then greeted his party member. "Actually I had been speed-grinding Dodge Roll, but when I hit level 32, it stayed at a distance of three meters and instead added a special effect: If I get damage during the Dodge Roll, it is now reducing it by 1 percent. I think if I level up the skill to 100, I'd get some actual Invincibility Frames. Of course, now that the skill has that added, the speed-grinding just isn't working anymore.

So I instead tried to find a way to speed-grind High Jump. That worked a lot better. Especially here in the training room where I can manually set the height of the platforms to too high for a normal jump but not too far to reach with a High Jump. It's now level 39!

Oh, and you know what else leveled up? Keyblade Mastery! And with level 44, I got another skill. Which one? Heal!"

Ji-Han now sounded actually agitated. It wasn't to say he felt his money was wasted, but getting another healing skill for free after buying Breeze of Regeneration did leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Is it worse than the Wind Magic?" Inquired Naofumi and Ji-Han sighed.

"For the most part", he answered. "It takes all of my remaining MP and heals the HP of my target by a percentage of the MP used, currently 20. So, if I use it with 600 MP left, I'll end up with 120 HP more, but no more MP left. The only saving grace is that it's working instantly, but not being able to use any other skills afterwards really hurts."

"So even if you level it up, you can only use it in combination with Ether Potions or Manatite Crystals", the Hero of the Shield reasoned and Ji-Han nodded.

"I really need to up my MP regeneration…"

Any further conversation was put on halt, as Shua entered the room, greeting them with a "Smear".

"Now that everyone is awake, we can eat breakfast and then finally teleport down", noted Naofumi. "The White Elf Hair Shield had finished overnight, so I am ready now."

That were good news. Now they didn't had to wait any longer.

* * *

"A square city?" Ji-Han couldn't help but exclaim as soon as the light from the teleportation died down. He stood on top of a green hill overlooking a town in the shape of a rectangle, surrounded on all sides by walls, then a moat and then trees. At the walls there was a girdle of living space with houses and greenery, followed by inner walls. The only entrance was a red gate on the – from his point of view – far right side of the downwards wall, a road cutting from their through the outer wall, the moat and the trees.

What a peculiar place for the only gate to be. Didn't you normally put the gates in the middle so that the time to reach the rest of the place was minimized? Wait.

Ji-Han noticed how in the inside of the inner wall were also more walls, separating the city into multiple segments. Segments that were kinda placed like a spiral leading to the only building higher than the walls: A white square tower with red roofs in the style of traditional Japanese buildings, surrounded by billows of fog in unnatural rings and upward spirals.

This – this looked just like a game where he would start at the gate and had to fulfill a task, before he was allowed into the next area until he finally reached the center where his goal – the keyhole – lay.

"Somehow I get the feeling, we'll be here for some time", mused the Gamer, resulting in Naofumi asking what he meant. But as Ji-Han made to explain his thoughts, he stopped short as his gaze fell upon Naofumi for the first time after coming to the world. And man, did he look different.

His hair was shaved off at the forehead and along the head in two stripes, leaving one patch of hair in the middle and two side bums, which were hardly longer than a few centimeter compared to the spiky hair from before. And then he wore a green kimono with a silver pattern of rings with smaller symbols within them, connected to each other with straight lines. His footwear also changed into something resembling a cross between sandals and wool socks made out of straw instead. Only the shield was the same.

"What happened to your hair?" Ji-Han asked about the biggest change and Naofumi shrugged, not even trying to find out how he had changed.

"This is most likely the effect of Zelretch's magic", he reasoned. "It was supposed to change us to make us fit with the locals. From our changes I assume we are in a world that is close to the Japanese Edo period in culture."

"Our changes?" Ji-Han looked down on himself. "Why am I wearing a dress?"

"It's a hakama", corrected Naofumi while rolling his eyes. "Haven't you seen those in Samurai movies before?"

"Is that so?" The white top did look a bit like those dobok that Sun-Il and gramps wore during exercise and the black hakama did not restrict his movements.

Suddenly his attention got caught by someone pulling at his sleeve.

"Yeah", he asked as he spun around. "What is it- SHUA?!" The last part he couldn't help but shout out loud in surprise as he caught sight of someone who was clearly the Pokémon, yet at the same time not exactly a Pokémon.

Instead Shua now looked like a four to five-year old boy of eastern descent with fair skin and brown hair that peeked out like flappy ears from under a white pointy straw hat. The rest of his fur had been exchanged with something that Naofumi could have told him was a jimbei, but looked to him more like sleepwear: A white shirt with short yet wide sleeves and short trousers out of the same thin material. The only thing that were not white were the brown trims, as well as the indigo paw print on the back. As well as the two rings of brown face paint or make-up circling his eyes and his wooden flip-flops.

In fact, Shua now looked so different that Ji-Han had trouble believing it actually was the Pokémon, even though he could see the name floating above the head. If it weren't for the white girdle around his waist with only one hold on the right for a bushy paintbrush whose tip was covered in indigo paint, that is.

"Oh, look, Naofumi", he exclaimed, pretending to be overjoyed, "Shua has turned into a real boy!"

The Pokémon in question gave him a look that conveyed how unimpressed he was with the Gamer, before jumping, pulling the brush from its hold and striking clean over Ji-Han's face, leaving behind a blue streak.

"Alright, alright, sorry", Ji-Han tried to placate the Pokémon. "But it's nothing to worry about. As Naofumi said, this is Zelretch's Magic at work. It should only change the appearance, not functionality. As you have been bipedal before, you shouldn't have any problem moving or fighting, right?"

Shua gave him another stare and then used his brush to silently point at his throat. Silently?

"You've turned mute?" Ji-Han exclaimed in surprise. It wasn't like Shua as a Pokémon had been able to use conventional words before, but he did manage to convey his mood through his tone of voice. So, suddenly being unable to say anything? That was actually a handicap.

"I assume that the same way that his original appearance would get unwanted attention, so would only being able to speak a single word", reasoned Naofumi and Ji-Han had to admit, he had a point. The reason he had recognized Shua as a Pokémon had been because of his unnatural speech pattern, after all. So it wasn't unlikely that it would raise unwanted attention even in worlds that did not know about Pokémon.

"Maybe we should teach him how to write…" Wondered Ji-Han. "Ah, wait, that won't work." Writings didn't get auto-translated, after all. "Maybe sign language?"

"Only if you are prepared to learn one with him", Naofumi pointed out. "Otherwise you would still not be able to understand what he is trying to say."

Shua opened his mouth to say something, but no sound escaped it, making him depressed.

"Don't be sad", Ji-Han tried to comfort the Pokémon. "We'll learn a sign language as soon as we get back to Traverse Town, I promise. For now, just clap your hands loudly, if you need to get our attention."

Shua was still not happy about the situation, but at the moment there was nothing they could do about it. So they put the matter aside for now and went down the hill towards the city. The further they went down towards the gate, the more they could make out the traditional Japanese buildings, the road leading to the gate and the many people moving in and out of the city. He even saw one or two rickshaws getting pulled along the road.

But as they were able to see the people on the road, so were the people able to see them. And despite the fact that Shua had transformed into a human to avoid standing out, the people gave them curious and wary glances, like they knew that they not belonged here. Why was that?

Yet since nobody was actually stopping them and his two party members continued without hesitation, Ji-Han did so, too, if a bit more conscious about the gazes of the other people.

"Halt!"

And then they were actually stopped on the gate by two women in military uniform consisting of a black overall, a green hakama and a white band with green and orange stripes at the trim and a black cross on top of it on one sleeve. The first woman called {Iwakura, Oshima} wore the band on her left upper arm and the second, one {Asukai, Shiozawa}, wore it on her right. Aside from that, the only real difference between them was the hair. Black with a normal ponytail and brown with a low-starting ponytail respectively. Their level {14} and Class {-Labyrinth Town's 10th District Patrol Unit Officer-} was the same. And in front of them was another woman:

[-Labyrinth Town's 10th District Patrol Unit Captain-  
LV18 Iroi, Saku]

Saku had short orange hair and opposite to the other two, she did not were a hakama but shorts that did not hid her black knee-socks as well as a belt in the colors of her armband on her left upper arm. A samurai sword had been attached to the belt, or rather the sheath of one, as she had already drawn it and pointed it towards him.

Ji-Han couldn't help but get reminded of the time Kyouya had threatened him, when the woman continued with "You are under arrest."

Ji-Han dutifully raised his hands but Naofumi was a lot more confrontational:

"And why are we supposed to be under arrest?"

"You are under arrest for entering Labyrinth Town during the Wedding Kimono Festival", she explained, but it only increased Ji-Han's confusion.

"There is a bunch of people coming in and out of this city!" He defended himself. "Why don't you arrest them?!"

Saku was starting to get angry.

"Don't play dumb!" She demanded. "Why else would you come to Labyrinth Town than to flirt with the Urara?!"

"I am looking for the keyhole", Ji-Han explained. He had no idea what Urara were, but apparently they were well known enough that people would try to snuck into the city to "flirt" with them. He just didn't know exactly, what made him look like he was one of those people though.

"I've got to find the keyhole and close it before the Heartless reach it."

"Keyhole? Heartless?" Saku repeated before shaking her head. "No matter."

She put away her sword.

"I have never heard of any of these, so it would explain why you want to ask the Urara. I will give you the benefit of the doubt this once. Go and come back tomorrow. Today is the Wedding Kimono Festival and that means no males!"

Ji-Han lowered his arms.

So that's why he had gotten those wary looks before. And why only women moved through the gate now that he looked for it. Wait.

"I have to wait a whole day?!" He shouted. "This is literally a matter of time and death and I have no idea how much time we have!"

Just recently they had found out that worlds actually could get devoured if he took too long. And while he didn't think, he had to close the keyhole this day, it was still one day he would lose. And considering the layout of Labyrinth Town with the districts… he had to start as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately the Captain would not listening.

"Shall I arrest you, after all?!" She threatened and Ji-Han quickly backed off.

"Alright, alright", he placated her. "We're going." Under their watchful eye, Ji-Han left the town, followed by his two party members.

"This isn't good", mused Ji-Han but Naofumi shrugged.

"Why? Because you can't get to saving the world right this instance?" He asked. "If you are really in such a hurry, just wait for the Heartless to appear and then enter the town to kill it. The people should be less hostile to you afterwards."

"That's actually a good point", admitted Ji-Han. "Even if that only works if a Heartless that is close to the entrance… And I can't loiter around or I'll get arrested, after all."

"Then why don't you let yourself be arrested?" Suggested Naofumi. "You have the Keyblade. It's not like any prison door will stay locked before you. And it would get you in the middle of the city where more Heartless after other people would be attracted to your Keyblade."

Ji-Han stopped.

"That sounds like a plan", he noted. "They'll be suspicious if we get caught too easily, but other than that…"

"There is no need to go to prison just yet, The Gamer. Oh, no need to be hostile."

All three of them had spun around, readying their weapons. In front of them stood a tall man with broad shoulders in a purple kimono. His brown hair was extremely short except for the one strand at the front that resembled a scythe. Below its base was a small green oval gem, held to the forehead with a single string. His right eye was covered by a make-shift eyepatch that was actually a bluish monocle with a golden ornamented handle held put by a black leather strand diagonally over his face. And above his head:

[Rat Bastard  
-Interdimensional Merchant-  
Lv24 Adams, Samuel]

"People call me Rabat", he introduced himself with a name that Ji-Han knew was fake. "And I am a merchant who travels to places far and wide, gathering the most esoteric of items, if you catch my drift. I belief I have something that might help you with your current… problem."

Places far and wide? That's one way to refer to other worlds. Still, what kind of title is {Rat Bastard}? It made him sound kind of shady.

"How much can such a shady character like you actually help us?" And apparently Naofumi managed to deduce the same even without the additional information."

"Oh, I think that I am the perfect guy for you at this moment", he declared. "Why don't we go somewhere else to talk business? It's quite crowded here. My little shop should be better for conversations, don't you think?"

He kinda had a point in saying that a shady character would be helpful at the moment, considering that they were trying to illegally enter a city.

"Alright", Ji-Han agreed. "Lead the way."

* * *

It had started to rain when they reached Rabat's shop. Yet it was a light sun shower that did not made them hurry up and get into the rather large building made out of cheap tent flaps. The inside looked just as cheap, the goods however, did not. Elaborate clothes of different types, gemstones and other accessories for the rich. Heck, there was even a goblet of beautiful red crystals, proudly greeting them.

But then Rabat pushed away another flap, revealing a futuristic-looking metal door, behind which was a hall in the same style, reminding him of the FO Vimana.

"Is this your spaceship?" Ji-Han inquired curiously and the merchant answered in the affirmative:

"Indeed. Usually I have to hide it because the people of this world are not used to interdimensional travel. But as you are a traveler of the multiverse yourself, I can actually show you my true selection."

They went into a room and Ji-Han's eyes widened in surprise at the many miscellaneous things placed there on the shelves and next to them.

A small shard of a pink crystal in a test tube, a red-glowing Knight chess piece, a full vending machine of something called {Doc Tear Popper}, an ominous-feeling piece of chalk, a sledgehammer next to a class showcase containing a sword which skull at the guard was actually whistling with pursed lips and a sad expression, a freaking dragon ball, if with a black star instead of the usual orange and some playing cards for different games like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from Yugioh, together with a red keycard-like object that had {Ri} written on it in black with a small crown on top of the {R}. Not to mention…

"…He's got a Nameless Class Card!" Ji-Han exclaimed excited and Naofumi cursed.

"Stay focused", he admonished the Gamer. "First we have to see if we can get into Labyrinth Town. If you still have some Munny left afterwards, then you can think of buying that one."

"Oh, I think, we can come to an agreement", Rabat noted. "If you don't have enough money, you can still trade with some goods of your own."

"Maybe you can give him one of your Plushie Coupons", Naofumi suggested drily, making Ji-Han roll his eyes.

"It had worked, didn't it? Speaking of… [Inventory]!"

Ji-Han ripped the Plushie Coupon apart and after a puff of smoke, held a 25cm-large Plushie in his hands. It was a girl with amber eyes and long white hair, a cowlick pointing to the right like a question mark and two flaps that resembled Shua's current pseudo-ears, just in white. Her backless tank top was of black color and her red skirt looked more like a jacket which sleeves one had tied around her waist with two long ribbons going over her shoulders and wrapped around her arms.

"And that's the Plushie Coupon, an item that turns into different Plushie depending on which world it is used one", Ji-Han explained. "Would you like one yourself?"

"I don't really think I can consider a toy in the same price category as a weapon", Rabat pointed out.

"A weapon that breaks after one use is hardly that more useful, especially against Heartless", Naofumi responded. "But luckily we are not here for that. Show us your solution already, before the day is over and we're just be going to be able to walk into the city without whatever you are trying to sell us."

"Of course."

He went to a shelf and took a pink box off it.

"Here", he opened it and showed them the contents: A yellow diamond bedded in white padding.

Still, the shape had something familiar to it…

"Is this a Chaos Emerald?" Wondered Ji-Han and one [Observe] confirmed his suspicions. So, Sonic was a thing? Still… "…how is a single Chaos Emerald going to help us get undetected into Labyrinth Town?"

"I actually grabbed the wrong box", admitted the merchant. "Unless you are interested…"

"Just give us the actual deal", Naofumi demanded with narrowed eyes.

"Alright, please wait a minute… ah, here." He came back with another pink box. This one had a bottom segment of trapezium shape and a curved top and at the front was a heart over something resembling a simplified pair of wings. Then Rabat pressed on the heart, releasing the clasp and opening the box. Inside was, also on white bedding, a beautiful crystal flower of a light violet color.

"[Observe]!"

{[Headdress Flower - Rank: Ultra]  
Base-Value: 960 000 Munny  
A hair ornament with mystical powers.  
As long as it is worn, it transforms the user into a  
beautiful woman of the same age, clothes included.}

His eyes widened. So that's how he can get into a female-only area: Becoming a female himself!

"And here I had been working so hard on having Zelretch not turn me into a magical girl", he noted with amusement. "Funny how that works."

"It transforms you into a girl?" Inquired Naofumi. "Does that mean you would have to go alone?"

"That is actually a downside", realized Ji-Han. "Or do you have more of these?"

"One not enough for you?" Rabat responded shaking his head. "These things don't grow in test tubes! With the many worlds falling prey to the Heartless, I cannot even tell you, if the world I found it on was their original world or if it had just gotten stranded there."

"That still makes it less useful for our purposes", the Hero of the Shield pointed out. "Having Ji-Han go on his own is quite a risk. Especially, since we don't know yet how strong the Heartless in this world are."

"Not really", claimed Rabat. "The people in this world don't have much fire power. If there were any strong Heartless, you would have heard a lot more screaming."

Ouch. That was dark. But true. So far they had yet to meet any Heartless in this world and the people were able to hold a festival without fear. Heck, Saku hadn't even known what Heartless were. That all pointed to a low threat.

And even if Rabat was wrong and the Heartless were too strong for Ji-Han to handle, the peaceful nature of the town meant that there should be enough people around able to combat any Heartless that appeared. So, even on his own, Ji-Han should not be in danger.

Not that he voiced any of his thoughts since Naofumi was currently busy haggling with the Interdimensional Merchant over the price of the Headdress Flower.

In the end, Ji-Han got away with paying only 500 000 Munny for something nearly worth a million _and_ the [Nameless Class Card: Nameless Spear], by exchanging it with items that only Ji-Han had as they were drop items created by his Gamer, like 5 of each of the elemental shards he had yet to find any use for and – to Naofumi's chagrin – a Plushie Coupon.

Even if Ji-Han had to admit, he had no idea why the last one actually worked. The Blaze, Frost and Thunder Shard Rabat explained with trying to find a way to use for them – the reason why he wanted multiple ones of them. But the actual Plushie Coupon? His best guess was that Rabat already had a buyer in mind to whom to sell that one away for a large profit. But as long as they got what they wanted, this didn't matter. Speaking of…

"Try it out!" Naofumi told the Gamer, wanting to see if that really worked for them or if something on Ji-Han would block it.

"So, how do you exactly wear this thing?" Mused Ji-Han as he took it out of the box and fumbled with the yellow ribbon underneath. "…I think I need a mirror…"

"In the first room is a person-sized one", Rabat told him and together they ventured to the area suited for the people of this world. There Ji-Han finally managed to find the clasp and attached the flower to the left side of his hair.

"This looks stupid", he said, before the flower glowed, followed by his whole body. Within moments his clothes evaporated to be replaced by a white summer dress reaching his knees with a purple ribbon around his waist, his skin became more smooth, his waist more slender, his hips and bust more pronounced and his hair grew until it hit his back.

Ji-Han took a look at his new appearance. Damn, he was quite the beauty, wasn't he? Fair, smooth skin, sparkling hazel eyes, long smooth hair of a shimmering silver – freaking silver – color. His chest wasn't the largest by a long shot, but it actually worked better to sell the pure-hearted maiden-look the dress was going for. And helped a lot as he did his best to not direct any untoward attention towards them.

"How do I look?" Ji-Han asked the others in a voice too high for his original appearance. He spun around – and promptly twisted his ankle and faceplanted onto the floor.

"You have to work on your balance, before you make a convincing girl", Naofumi just noted, to which Ji-Han just cursed in response.

"It's not my fault the dress came with heels!" He defended himself, trying his best to pick himself up and stay that way.

PING!

{[Balance]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Oh, right, he had that skill, didn't he? Maybe if he grinded it enough, he could actually walk in these things…

Ji-Han took off the shoes, noting interestingly that they didn't vanish.

"Anybody got some shoes I can walk in?"

"Why don't you just go barefoot?" Suggested Naofumi drily. "Your VIT should be high enough no matter how sensitive you used to be. And it probably fit better to that dress than anything else we can come up with."

"You could buy a completely new dress", suggested Rabat but the Hero of the Shield just rolled his eyes.

"Of course you would suggest that", he exclaimed, shaking his head. "But unless you can honestly tell us that his current clothing is too conspicuous for this world and have something that's not and easy to fight in, buying something like that from you would be pointless."

"And they shouldn't be something that the Patrol Officers wore", added Ji-Han. "No matter how good those are for combat, looking like someone of a military force or police would get too much attention."

"Western-style clothes are not unseen in this world", Rabat finally admitted.

"And during a festival, foreign people are not out of place", added Naofumi.

"I think I'll have to stay an hour in the training room to figure this stuff out", Ji-Han decided shuffling a bit. Would the dress hamper his movements or not? "I'll come back later, if I need anything else."

"Thank you for your patronage!"

* * *

{By using [Heart Key: Open] without using the skill,  
[Heart Key: Open]'s level has risen by 4.}

Ji-Han stared in surprise at the message that appeared when he transformed the Nameless Class Card into a real one with his Keyblade. That one was actually a feature of Heart Key? And because he hadn't known about that and tried to connect the new card the same way he had with Tyr's he fast-leveled the skill. How funny. But let's see what he got…

"[Observe]!"

{[Rider Class Card - Rank: Gold]  
Base-Value: 8 620 864 216 Munny  
A card created to capture part of the powers of a Heroic Spirit.  
Has the ability to connect to the Heroic Spirit  
[Idzuka, Chisa] under the Rider-Class.}

"Rider-Class?" mused Ji-Han, still in female-mode – opposite to his party members who had changed back upon teleporting back in – as he took a look at the new cover with the charioteer standing on top of a two-wheeled chariot, his metal gauntlets holding the reigns of beats outside the frame. Additionally he had a triangular helmet and besides the metal torso also something like a metal chin protection. The lower body was covered with a small mantle and on his hip was a sheathed sword.

So, the Nameless Spear turned into the Rider Class? He wondered just how much the original card mattered. Tyr had been a Nameless Sword and turned into an Archer who threw swords, so would this one be a guy riding his spear like a broomstick?

Thinking about it, why didn't he just try it out and see what happens?

For that he made the training room create an enemy and then pointed the card at it while his two party members watched in interest.

"[Card Summoning]!"

What appeared was someone who Ji-Han had trouble thinking of a hero, if he hadn't been a member of the Hero Union. She was a girl of middle-school age with red eyes and black hair styled in twintails. Her uniform consisted of a light blue shirt under a yellow top, a red tie, a blue skirt, black thigh-highs and indoor shoes, also of black color.

The girl squat down and with a piece of chalk slowly drew a circle around the Holographic Drone, before vanishing.

"Is that it?!" Exclaimed Ji-Han incredulous as he walked over to the drone. He just lost…

"[Status Window]!"

…250 MP for a circle of chalk on the ground that didn't do anything?

"[Observe]!"

{Territory [Flying Witches Chalk Circle] - Rank: Super  
Whoever touches the ground within the drawn circle  
becomes invisible to anyone who does not.}

Wait, seriously?

Ji-Han cut the drone with his Binary Spirit and stepped into the ring.

"Invisibility?" Inquired Naofumi and Ji-Han nodded. Before remembering what invisibility meant.

"Yeah", he thus voiced. "But you can still hear me, right?"

"Yes." "Smear!"

His party members moved over to him, studying the circle. Shua used his brush to paint over a part of the circle and suddenly their eyes moved up towards Ji-Han, telling the Gamer that he was visible again.

"So we've got a method of invisibility that is stationary, takes one to two seconds to set up, does not block any other senses, has only enough space for maybe two people if they are slender and loses its effect the instance someone disrupts the chalk?" Naofumi summarized. "If that's your power attempting to help deal with the sneaking-in issue, it should try again."

Ji-Han snorted.

"It wasn't like we were counting on it to help us sneak into Labyrinth Town", he pointed out. "We've got the Headdress Flower for that." And the dress wasn't actually that hard to fight in with. His legs had enough space for movements without getting tangled up. The only real problem was protecting his modesty during a Dodge Roll, but since he wasn't a girl in the first place, he didn't really have a problem with someone seeing his panties if it came down to a fight.

"Let's get down again and get a bag from Rabat", he decided. After all, who visitor to a festival would not carry around someone where they could carry the stuff they bought in or at last, the money they could buy stuff with.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

Now you've got to see the real reason why I decided to have Leon Shop with Raul as the one who does multi-dimensional transactions instead of a business from a different anime: It was literally to have Kuro freak out. Though I wonder just how many of you actually have read or watch Kurokami and can thus really appreciate it.

On another note related to the first part, Rabat fulfills the role of the merchant of not quite legal merchandise, a smuggler who's also, as shown in this chapter, quite the con-artist.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	17. Chapter 16: Things Are Not What They App

**Heart of Akasha**

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **merendinoemiliano** and **Zantetsuken**.

Zantetsuken:

I've re-watched the Creation of the Soldier-scene and, to my surprise, we both had been wrong. There was no Heartless attacking the guy. I just thought so because he had been running and after falling, turned around, but there was no attacker in sight. Yet he still turned into an Emblem-Heartless, regardless. Instead, with the suddenly looking back, it looked like he had been feeling a great amount of fear instead. Forget Sköll (who is only "not necessarily" Hans's Heartless), this example would make turning into a Heartless because of negative emotions the first actually shown method of turning into an Emblem-Heartless.

I recon the presence of Emblem-Heartless on a world (or at last in a dark corridor close to the target) is already enough to turn any additional Heartless into Emblem-Heartless, regardless of any direct attacks and regardless that the Emblem-Heartless had originally been created by a machine. Whether that's because it was an Emblem-Heartless that drew out the hearts towards them or because Emblem-Heartless like to copy other things on that world and could thus decide to copy the Emblem, too, is something no outside observer could tell.

So, the real question is not, why those people turned into Emblem-Heartless, but why other people didn't.

Both Sora and Xehanort turned into Pureblood-Heartless. What did they have in common? They both had _two_ hearts inside of them when they chose to _willingly_ turn themselves into a Heartless with a _Keyblade_. That's three things that are far away from normal and thus could be a possible explanation for why they both became Pureblood-Heartless instead of Emblem.

Chapter 16: Things Are not What They Appear

When Ji-Han walked into Labyrinth Town, he did so with the straps of a [Traditional Japanese Pouch Bag (white, flowers, medium)] in his left hand. Naturally he was all alone, as being seen with one of the other two would work against trying to trick everyone into thinking he wasn't that guy from before. Though to his surprise, there had been no sign of Saku and her two subordinates. Did they not guard the gate all the time? Curious.

He moved along the main road, food stands on the side. He actually went to one such stand and got himself some cotton candy, to sell the illusion of being a visitor coming to the festival. He also tried to discreetly observe the behavior of the "other" woman, to prevent acting out in any manner that was definitively "male".

But no matter what, he was not prepared for the girl with long silver hair in the white Japanese wedding dress to jump on top of the roof of a nearby building and then onto a chain of festival flags.

"Lookit me, Koooon!" She shouted, slurring her words drunkenly. "Feshtiivals are sho much fuuuun!"

At the same time she proceeded to take the food out of the basked in her arms and threw it around. While spinning on top of the decoration. And where did that monkey come from?

The girl called Chiya then just jumped down and ran towards and past him, a literal herd of different animals on her heels.

Ji-Han just stared at her retreating back dumbfounded for a few moments.

So. This just happened. Should he follow her? It didn't look like she needed his help. Unless maybe if she's getting attacked by Heartless, but that could be happen to anyone, so it wasn't really better for him to follow her instead of going directly to the center. Not to mention that in the time it took for him to make the decision, she was already long gone.

"There he is!"

What?!

Ji-Han spun around. There he actually saw Saku and her two officers, but his gaze was right away drawn away from them to the woman next to them. She had black hair that was styled in two long strands to the side of her face and wore the white wedding dress that was common this day. But more importantly was, what she was holding in her hand. Not the white paper umbrella in her left, but the _crystal ball_ in her right.

A psychic. A real psychic. No matter how he looked, she instantly realized his true gender and called the guards on him. All the training; and it had been all for nothing!

Ji-Han turned tail and started to run away, the "Halt" of the officers on his heels, together with the officers themselves. Now, while getting thrown into prison had been one of their plans; that was just for getting into the city in the first place! Now that he was inside and on his own, he might as well look for Heartless to fight while he was on the run. It should be a lot more productive than sitting in jail.

He duck into a side alley, trying to shake them off in the many paths of the apply-named Labyrinth Town. Which was easier said than done considering they had a psychic on their side. So if he managed to get away too easily, they would go back to her and just ask her, where he had vanished to. In other words, he had to lead them around long enough that the slower psychic would fall behind so much that when he finally escaped and the officer returned for a reading, he would be able to leave this district in that time.

So, after some minutes of running around, he finally decided that they had gone far enough.

"[High Jump]!"

Ji-Han ran over to a Japanese house and used the skill to jump onto the roof, similarly to the girl with the animals from earlier. The shouts of surprise from his pursuers just spurned him on as he hopped over the top of the roof and vanishing from view.

Of course that shouldn't be enough to lose the women. Which was why he went down the other side, only to jump up the next building. Even if he wasn't jumping from one roof to the next on the accounts that he didn't have a skill called "Far Jump", it was still faster for him going the direct route. Or rather, those following him were getting slowed down by having to go around buildings.

Not enough to lose them, however. If he continued in a straight line. The only problem was only that if he changed directions, they could catch up during that time. Which was why instead of continuing straight ahead or running to the side, he did not jump down onto the ground the second time, but hid on the balcony of the Japanese-style building instead. Without the psychic they would hopefully pass by him and only realize it once it was too late. And to help with that…

"[Card Summoning]!"

…he had the twin-tailed Chisa draw her chalk circle on the balcony. That way they would not even notice him through the gaps, no matter how hard they looked. Funny how he had thought he wouldn't be needing her…

Nevertheless, his gamble paid off and the patrol officers went past him without stopping, completely oblivious to his presence. Good. That meant that they really weren't psychics themselves. If they were, it would have been close to impossible to escape them…

Ji-Han's thoughts trailed off when his gaze fell upon one of the paper lanterns hanging under the roof close to him. Or rather, the freaking _Heartless-emblem_ on it.

Before he knew what was happening, the lantern rotated around and the red paper parted in three places to reveal two yellow dots as eyes and a mouth where a long red tongue whipped out, striking Ji-Han at his side and throwing him off the balcony and onto the street below.

{-9}

Once again Ji-Han was glad that High Jump reduced his fall damage as he quickly picked himself up and summoned the Binary Spirit, holding it ready as he faced the Heartless. But now all around him appeared black portals, revealing three more of the lanterns levitating in the air, as well as a red folded umbrella, standing on a sandaled-foot with one eye and a mouth that had also revealed an extremely long red tongue.

"[Observe]!"

{Awake Lantern Lv19  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 260/260  
MP: 142/142  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Demon, Shadow  
Elemental Resistances: Fire (0), Leaf (0.2),  
Soul (0.5), Mystic (0.75), Time (-1)  
A Heartless that not only takes the shape of a paper lantern,  
but can also mimic the object in question completely.  
It can stay still for long stretches of time to take  
its prey by surprise when they least expect it.  
STR: 15 VIT: 24 DEX: 17  
INT: 30 WIS: 25 LUK: 23}

{Awake Umbrella Lv25  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 350/350  
MP: 450/450  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Wind, Demon, Shadow  
Elemental Resistances: Wind (0), Leaf (0.8),  
Soul (0.5), Mystic (0.75), Time (-1)  
A Heartless that takes the appearance of a paper umbrella.  
When it reveals its true form it takes pleasure in blowing  
people up into the sky and watching them fall to despair.  
STR: 17 VIT: 36 DEX: 21  
INT: 32 WIS: 32 LUK: 20}

'Alright', thought Ji-Han as the Awake Lantern from the roof joined its brethren. 'None of them have Data-Resistance.'

He took three quick steps towards the first Lantern and used [High Jump] to cut it – only for him to continue to climb to twice the height of the enemy before descending again. Luckily that was still enough time to overcome his stupor at the fact that his High Jump was now way more than enough to reach airborne Heartless and cut the target on the way down the second time. Just like he used to do when he couldn't jump that high.

{+617 EXP}

The Awake Lantern evaporated at that strike and in its place appeared a roll of paper and _another red lantern_.

Ji-Han instantly hit at the latter, only for the sound scissors cutting paper to reveal that it had been a real paper lantern and not a Heartless. But by then it was already too late and the item had been split into two parts. With a somehow perfect cut that left the two halves in an otherwise perfect shape instead of crushed like you would expect paper to do. Did his Keyblade to that?

{-31} {-31MP}

{-30} {-30 MP}

{-9}

A pain in the back and a bunch of messages told him, he should have not let his attention wander in the middle of a battle as he was flung forward and face-planted on the ground. And before he even had the chance to react, he was picked up against his will and then flung high into the sky by a small whirlwind of white streams of air.

{-15}

The damage wasn't even the biggest problem and thanks to High Jump's fall damage-reduction, neither was flying into the air. But all that spinning was making him dizzy.

{You have been afflicted with [Vertigo 90].}

Yeah, he noticed… Uff! And there was the ground. Ji-Han tried to pick himself up, but his head was spinning. But if he didn't do anything, he would just be send back into the air over and over again in a vicious loop. Unless the Awake Umbrella decided not to use the whirlwind attack, but betting on an enemy not using a specific ability… yeah, not the brightest idea.

So, despite the nausea, he closed his eyes and tried his best to scramble away in a random direction. That didn't block all the attacks but as long as he didn't get hit by another whirlwind, he could whether anything else. In fact…

"[High Jump]!"

…when he had been thrown up, he had seen the attack in question for a moment, before the spinning got too bad. And unlike a real tornado, this one did not reach up to the heavens. So, with his newfound jumping height, he might actually be able to jump over it!

Not that he could actually see it right now, since his eyes were closed. But nonetheless, when he landed again, he did not get blown up immediately and his nausea had gotten better. So he opened his eyes again, ignored the balls of blue fire the lanterns were shooting at him and looked around for the umbrella.

There it was!

He ran towards it, ready to Dodge Roll out of the way at a moment's notice. A strategy that served him well when white winds started to surround the Heartless and soon the whirlwind was flung towards him. But because he had expected it, he was easily able to dodge the attack going in a straight line and managed to reach the enemy without any more trouble. There he hit it one, twice, only for the umbrella to open suddenly, flinging his weapon back harmlessly and him with it.

He might have fallen onto the ground, if it ironically weren't for the impacts on his back {-30} {-30 MP} {-31} {-31MP}, stabilizing him, allowing him to change direction and stab forward, into the now closed canopy. The Heartless evaporated {+750 EXP} and Ji-Han turned around to deal with the three left Red Lanterns. With one of them already closing in on him.

It shot out its tongue towards him, but Ji-Han swatted it away with a [Guard] and then he was already close enough to it to defeat it without trouble with a two-hit combo {+650 EXP}, dropping another roll of paper and a red paper lantern.

The other two shot blue fireballs at him and Ji-Han quickly [Dodge Roll]ed out of the way, before making his way over to them. In haste, but also wary of more attacks. Especially those MP-stealing ones. He had ignored them before, because the dizziness was way more annoying and dangerous. But now that he had dealt with that, he would rather not use any MP unnecessarily, since he actually had a lot more HP than MP thanks to Athletic Body and using Card Summoning earlier.

So, he made sure to take down the last two Heartless without getting hit once, earning him two more paper rolls; or rather {Kouzogami (25cm x 200cm)}, paper made from Japanese Mulberry, as an [Observe] told him. On that note, the good paper lantern was an {Akachouchin (75cm x 25cm)}, while the one he had cut in half was a {Defective Akachouchin (75cm x 25cm)}. He still put it into his inventory though, since it was just paper and thus should be easily fixed with some glue or tape. Not perfect of course, but someone in Traverse Town might appreciate it regardless.

"There!"

Ji-Han spun around and cursed.

"You couldn't have shown up thirty seconds earlier?!" He called out to Saku and her two subordinates, as he turned around again and took off in a hurry, the officers on his heels. If they had shown up earlier, they would have seen him fighting against the Heartless, making all this running-away unnecessary. But missing his battle but still returning early enough that they didn't miss him? What bad luck. Hopefully the next one would be better.

* * *

'This is getting ridiculous', thought Ji-Han as he struck down another Awake Umbrella {+750 EXP}.

This was the fourth time he had met a group of Heartless, as well as the fourth time he had met Heartless without any of his pursuers nearby. Seriously, maybe he should just let one of them live until the officers actually caught up?

Just as he was thinking this, the three Awake Lanterns and one Soldier that were left vanished into black portals, leaving him all on his lonesome.

Okay. What just happened? Since when do the Heartless run away? The only times that happened was with the light from the Digivice. But there was currently no strong light coming from behind him. And when he turned to check, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Or at last, nothing he could see. Was there something invisible?

"[Observe]!" No. Nothing except the street and buildings. Unless it was invisible and able to screw with his Observe like Eltina from Cantehill. But so far he hadn't been attacked either…

Ji-Han trailed off, when someone ran into his field of view from around the corner. Someone who was starting to get out of breath from all the running they had already done this day.

Saku's eyes met his and she narrowed them.

"Don't you dare run away again!" She raged, but naturally Ji-Han did not listen to her, turned and instantly picked up speed.

Of course, once again he had been found without any Heartless in sight.

Wait. Did they ran away from her?! Then how was he supposed to make her and her two flunkies watch him killing Heartless? Damn, back to Plan A it was: Just trying to run away. If he could even do that, considering the Heartless liked to attack when he finally escaped for the moment, stalling him enough that he got found again.

Wait. Are they perhaps doing that on purpose?! No way! Heartless aren't supposed to be that smart! But it would explain so many things… still, just how was he supposed to escape her then? He looked around and noticed a small forest that was visible from behind some of the buildings.

A forest, in the town? No! He finally remembered! That was the small hill that he had seen when he first looked upon the Labyrinth Town, the hill with the stairs and the red shrine gate! Maybe he could use the buildings and trees to jump up there, forcing Saku to go the long way around and then, when she finally managed to go up all the stairs, go back down the way he came from.

Even better, with how out of breath she already was, having to climb stairs might make her finally give up! Let's try it!

But when he finally reached the foot of the hill, he realized that using it to escape his pursuers would not be that easy. It was a lot larger than it had looked like from far away. Meaning, not only was it higher, it was also more stretched out. Meaning, he could not just jump on top of a nearby building with High Jump and then onto a nearby tree and already be at the top.

He would have to jump from tree to tree –he still didn't have Far Jump, he reminded himself – over a slope that might be difficult to venture to, but not impossible if the person was determined enough. Maybe he should go up the stairs and then roll down instead?

But as he ran around the edges of the base, looking for the stairway, he stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed a black shadow peeking out from the lines of trees. He quickly took a closer look, thinking it might be an actual Shadow-Heartless. But it wasn't. Ji-Han could tell, because no Heartless had question marks flying above their head, but whatever else it was, he had no idea.

It was as tall, if not even taller than him and stood on the tip of two bunny-like hind legs, fitting to its head which had the ears and nose of a rabbit, as well. The forelegs, however, were hidden under something like a coat with a ragged seem, black on the outside and red on the inside. Speaking of colors, besides the inside of the coat, the only things that didn't have a black color were a white fur... collar? Napkin? As well as a pair of diagonal eyes looking more like rubies than actual organs.

And those eyes were staring intensively at him.

PING!

{An ominous vibe had been detected.}

A cold shower ran over his back as all the noise and colors seemed to vanish, except for these captivating red eyes.

[Follow.]

Ji-Han was completely taken aback by the sudden voice resounding through him, as well as the creature suddenly turning around, vanishing into the trees.

Ji-Han had completely forgotten about his pursuers and did not even notice Saku's shout of exasperation, as he followed the rabbit into the tree line. The great slope made it extremely difficult, but by using the trees as supports, he managed to slowly make his way up, the black rabbit moving in and out of his field of view at random times like a ghost. Ji-Han slipped once or twice, but he continued onwards.

And then he got the idea using [Dodge Roll] to move forward. Dodge Roll only cared about distance, so as long as he was not actually trying to roll up a wall, it would even work on these slopes. He only had to make sure he ended up behind a tree to avoid sliding down again.

Finally the slope stopped and he broke through the trees to find himself on the clearing on top of the hill. Everywhere was grass and looking through the red gate he had quite the view on the hills surrounding Labyrinth Town. Unfortunately the city itself was not visible as the stairway pointed into the wrong direction for that. But he could see the red tower peeking out from behind the trees on the other side.

There was also missing any trace of the black rabbit. Instead, in the center of the clearing was a young girl in bride clothes laying on the side.

[-Rank 10 Urara-  
LV29 Chiya]

Ji-Han recognized the girl as the one who had been jumping on top of buildings earlier but the name {Chiya} rang some more bells.

"[Inventory]!"

Ji-Han took out the plushie he had gained from using the Plushie Coupon in this world and indeed, aside from the clothing and hairstyle, the [Gamer's Chiya Cotton Plushie (25 cm)] looked just like her. That made her an incredibly important person to this world. Considering the rabbit's otherworldly method of speaking, was it perhaps the world reaching out to him to help the girl?

He put the plushie away and walked closer to her, studying her. Man, was she sleeping peacefully like this. Downright tranquil. Now, just what would she need help with? Were there Heartless around?

Ji-Han quickly checked the surroundings but not a single one came forward. Instead it started to rain lightly. Another sun shower.

"I guess I'll just be making sure you don't get sick for sleeping in the rain for now", he mused quickly as he bend over and nudged her shoulder.

"Wake up", he said gently. "You are going to get a cold sleeping like this."

"STEP – _pant_, _pant_ – AWAY – _pant_, _pant_ – FROM CHIYA! _Gasp_!"

Ji-Han quickly took his hand away and straightened himself, before he turned around to look at Saku.

"I was just trying to wake her!" He defended himself. "Sleeping around like this in this weather can't be healthy!"

"As if I'd belief the intentions of a male, who had been sneaking into the Labyrinth Town during the Wedding Kimono Festival", she countered to which Ji-Han had to admit, she kinda had a point. "I don't even want to think about what kind of dastardly things you would do to a defensive girl like her!"

"Alright, alright", Ji-Han tried to placate her and stepped away. "Then I'll just let you take care of her. I don't think the rabbit will care who does… unless there's something only I can do… One second! [Observe]!"

"…[Drunk asleep]? Who gave her alcohol? But at last it is just something she can literally sleep off. Alright, she's all yours!"

"And where do you think you are going?"

As Ji-Han went to leave, he was stopped by Saku, who stood in his way, her sword drawn, while her three subordinates walked past her to go and tend to Chiya.

Ji-Han raised an eyebrow.

"Do you still want to continue?" He asked her. "Nothing against you, but you should have noticed by now that you get tired a lot faster than I do. And I don't need to follow roads. I might not be able to hide from you, but at the same time, catching me is impossible on your own. Don't you not rather just do something more important?"

"This is important!" She declared. "No matter how futile it appears, I would not be able to call myself the captain of Labyrinth Town's Block 10 Patrol Unit, if I let a criminal get away without not even trying to stop him!"

"So cooool!" Her black and brown-haired subordinates were swooning in unison. Only the white-haired one was still focused on the task, as she continued towards Chiya to get the girl finally out of the rain…

Ji-Han summoned his Binary Spirit and sprinted towards the subordinates. Not expecting the sudden movement, Oshima and Shiozawa were caught off guard and couldn't do anything except stumble helplessly backwards as Ji-Han closed in on them – and promptly passed them and instead swung his Keyblade at the last subordinate.

A flash of white – and Ji-Han was flung backwards, sliding over the wet grass until he stopped near the dumbfounded Saku. There he picked himself up as fast as possible to take a combat stance, his weapon pointing towards the third subordinate, who was also now turning to face him, her nine white long and fluffy canine tails circling gracefully through the air around her.

"What- what's going on?" Saku voiced her confusion to which Ji-Han was only eager to reply:

"I have the ability to see people's names flying above their head", he explained before he opened his inventory and put the Headdress Flower back in. Everybody already knew he was a guy and he preferred fighting in his true form. "Or if they are way more powerful than me, it shows just question marks. The only things that don't even have that are either puppets; or heartless monsters!"

PING!

{**Quest Alert**

Wedding Crasher: The Jealous Bride

Sleeping of her intoxication wouldn't normally a problem for Chiya. But this time there is a Heartless aiming for the unconscious Urara.

Protect Chiya from the [Sun Shower Bride] until the end of the day.

Bonus Objective:  
1: Defeat the [Sun Shower Bride] with the Keyblade.  
2: Make sure no one gets killed by the [Sun Shower Bride].

Completion Award: +10 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with the gods and Urara of Labyrinth Town.  
Increased reputation with Chiya and her friends.

Bonus Award:  
1: +6 000 EXP.  
The enemy will not return in a year.  
2: +8 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with the people of Labyrinth Town.

Completion Failure: +2 000 EXP.  
Decreased reputation with the people of Labyrinth Town.}

"It's after Chiya!" Ji-Han quickly relayed as he accepted the quest, before using the voice chat to notify his companions: "Boss-Enemy spotted. I am at the top of the hill. The police is with me."

Now that Saku and her subordinates had found out about the Heartless, they could finally allow Naofumi and Shua in. Now he just had to stall the enemy until the reinforcements arrived.

Speaking of the Heartless, it apparently decided to forego any resemblance of humanity, as layers of illusions peeled off it revealing… a Kumiho?! The nine tails had been already a good sign for that but now the head had changed to that of a cartoonish fox with silver fur and yellow dots as eyes, wearing a red plum flower over the right ear. It hands were paws, yet it had no problem holding the red paper parasol in its right. Whether or not it had human feet, Ji-Han could not tell as those were covered by the red kimono with a motif of silver foxes.

"[Observe]!"

{Sun Shower Bride Lv52  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 2600/2600  
MP: 5200/5200  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Lightning, Shadow, Demon  
Elemental Resistances: Stone (0.5), Soul (0.75),  
Rot (0.5), Poison (0.5), Time (-2)  
A Heartless that only shows up to special occasions.  
With lightning and illusions it is prepared to ruin any wedding.  
STR: 39 VIT: 44 DEX: 33  
INT: 52 WIS: 48 LUK: 32}

Alright. So it didn't seem to have any resistances he needed to worry about. And its stats were actually comparable to his? This fight might not have been that much of a problem, even on his own. If he actually had been alone. And not surrounded by people he had to protect.

Especially considering that in the time it took for Ji-Han to read through its status, the Sun Shower Bride had turned around, ignoring him and refocused on the unconscious Chiya, who was piggy-back on the back of Shiozawa. The patrol officer flinched at the sudden interest and Ji-Han quickly shot forward to redirect the attention back to him.

Which apparently worked even without sight since as soon as he was in reach, he'd had to jump back from one of the tails striking out. At last his goal had been accomplished and the Heartless was focusing back on him.

"Get Chiya out of here, quick!" Saku meanwhile told her two subordinates while she took position next to Ji-Han, her sword pointing at the Sun Shower Bride. However…

"That's not going to work", refuted the Gamer. "Heartless can only be hurt by something supernatural. A normal weapon doesn't work!"

"I am the captain of the Labyrinth Town's 10th District Patrol Unit!" Saku declared intensively. "I am not going to let an outsider deal with someone attacking the inhabitants!"

Ji-Han was distracted from trying to convince her otherwise, by her suddenly turning into a Sun Shower Bride herself. He jumped away and she turned his way, pointing the closed umbrella towards him. But it was her, as he could tell thanks to the words floating above her head. He looked around and saw three more Sun Shower Brides, one of them carrying another on its back.

"It's an illusion!" He proclaimed. "The Heartless didn't even move around, it just made everyone look like it! Just attack the one I am attacking and you'll be fine."

He rushed forward but did so on his own. Saku was still too hesitant right now to do anything. Which suited him just fine. Less of a possibility for her to accidentally kill herself.

Unfortunately the real Heartless did not just wait for him. Instead it actually turned around and ran towards the two officers, who panicked silently and scattered, Shiozawa still carrying Chiya on her back. Wait. Silently? Damn it, did it block any sound between them to stop them from recognizing each other through voice? In that case…

"…[Party Invite]!" He send a Party Invite towards Saku, but in a split-second decision decided to leave out the other two, not wanting to distract them while they were running away. Instead he used some [Dodge Roll]s, to close in on the Sun Shower Bride faster. Only for him to come face-to-face with a white twister at the end of his third roll.

"[Guard]!" He instinctively activated, sending the whirlwind back to the Heartless who had stopped going after the officers and faced him. And now she used her umbrella to swat away the wind attack.

…An umbrella? Come to think of it, the Sun Shower Bride had a Lightning-Element and not a Wind one, didn't it?

"[Observe]!"

{Awake Umbrella Lv28  
Status: Unaffected  
HP: 392/392  
MP: 464/504  
Type: Emblem-Heartless.  
Elemental Alignment: Wind, Demon, Shadow  
Elemental Resistances: Wind (0), Leaf (0.8),  
Soul (0.5), Mystic (0.75), Time (-1)  
A Heartless that takes the appearance of a paper umbrella.  
When it reveals its true form it takes pleasure in blowing  
people up into the sky and watching them fall to despair.  
STR: 19 VIT: 40 DEX: 23  
INT: 35 WIS: 35 LUK: 21}

An Awake Umbrella, he had been right! Dang it, these thing's ability to toss him into the air was even more annoying than anything the boss monster had shown so far. He would have to deal with it first!

The Kumiho stretched out her tails in a ring around her and blue flames appeared at their tips. Then, one after another, they left their position, shooting towards Ji-Han.

But the Gamer was already moving to meet them. He ducked under the first one, cut through the second one, send the third one back with a [Guard] and then got hit in the back with the forth. {-32}

"[Dodge Roll]!" He activated as he fell forward to recover and thus only got hit by another one {-31} instead of all of the rest, as he landed on his feet and was able to use another [Dodge Roll], this time to the right. There he spun around, cutting two more of the fireballs. Which left… four? He did a quick count. Why was the one he had blocked still going after him? Weren't these fireballs homing like the ones from the Heart-Hunting Nuckelavee? At last they were still going after him even after they missed him and even curving around to get him from behind. {-32}

"Uwak! [Doge Roll]!

He rolled after being hit by one again, this time coming to a stop before another hit him, allowing him to cut it instead. If there was one good thing about the fireballs, it was the fact that they vanished when they hit him and only took a small amount of his HP when they did so. Not his MP like the fireballs of the Awake Lantern. So if worst came to worst, he could actually just weather the attacks. Like for example, if the Sun Shower Bride used the opportunity to go after Chiya while he was otherwise occupied.

Ji-Han send a quick gaze towards the Heartless, but fortunately it was still focused on him. Still, he couldn't just bet on that the whole time. He had already wasted too much time with this attack. He had to end this, before the Heartless got the idea to leave him for the defenseless prey. And with only two flames left…

Ji-Han [Doge Roll]ed away from the flames and towards the Sun Shower Bride, which swung its umbrella at his approach, creating another whirlwind. But this one was just as ineffective as the one before, being thrown back by Ji-Han's [Guard]. And in the time that the Heartless swung the umbrella to block it, Ji-Han reached it and raised his Keyblade into the air.

"[Power Strike!]"

Ji-Han send the weapon down, not at the Sun Shower Bride, but at the Awake Umbrella that the former had so nicely put in front of it. Which, being a relatively low-leveled Heartless without a Fight-Resistance, was instantly destroyed. {+630 EXP}

But Ji-Han didn't stop there. Being already close to the enemy, he pressed on while activating [Drug Magic: Muscle Explosion]. Unfortunately, he had miscalculated and by the time he had said the name of the ability, he had already finished his first hit. So he didn't had the STR-Bonus there. And even though at the return-swing it was full in effect, Ji-Han failed to see a noticeable difference with his Observe. It took between 150 and 200 HP both times, a more detailed number not possible to calculate in the heat of the battle. Especially since the Heartless was counter-attacking, summoning the ghost fires from the tip of her tails, sending them towards Ji-Han point-blank.

Ji-Han jumped backwards and used [Guard] at the same time, which allowed him to block the one at the front while two hit both of his shoulders {-32} {-33}. The rest looked at first like they would miss him, but then changed direction mid-course and went past his defense, hitting him all over the body {-32} {-31} {-32} {-32} {-33} {-32} and sending him flying back at the same time that the Sun Shower Bride was hit by the one he had reflected.

Ji-Han landed on his back and got back up in haste, only to bear witness to Saku, still looking like a Sun Shower Bride, attacking the real one from behind with her own "umbrella". Apparently, she had figured out which one was the enemy. Good for her but since she couldn't actually hurt it…

…Or at last, so he thought until the HP of the Heartless dropped by 50. Was her sword blessed or something?

PING!

{[Slashing Weapon Mastery]'s Level has risen by 1.}

Nice, but distracting.

Ji-Han waved the notification away and ran back to the Heartless while Saku was occupying its attention. Meanwhile his buff muscles vanished and he reapplied [Drug Magic: Muscle Explosion], while the Sun Shower Bride once again raised her tails – but not fanned out like with the fireballs. Instead, they all went straight up, creating the image of one large tail instead.

And then came the lightning.

Out of the partly cloudy yet still bright skies seven bolts of lightning struck down the area around the Heartless, not all at once, but fast enough that the first had yet to vanish while the second came from above. In other words, too fast to react for either Saku or Ji-Han.

Ji-Han flinched but Saku, who didn't have the Gamer's Body or even just Physical Endurance, screamed out in pain as whoever knows how many volt and amp hit her, disrupting the illusion making her look like a Heartless and literally flinging her away like a ragdoll.

"Saku-", he began to call out in panic, but stopped and used [Observe] instead since that was a way better way to check up on her. And luckily, while it took a good chunk of her HP, with 800 of 1160 left, she was not in danger to drop dead any second now.

At last, not from that alone. But the Heartless was not willing to ignore such a tempting target, helplessly on the ground as she was. And she was pretty much helpless. Even though she was gritting her teeth and pushing herself up, she would not make it before the Kumiho would reach her. And Ji-Han doubted she had good chances to survive the attention.

Worse, moving towards Saku, meant moving away from him. And with the small distance between them all, he doubted he would manage to catch up to the Heartless in time.

So, he had only the tiniest amount of time to find something, _anything_, to redirect all the attention onto himself. So, in a move that definitively spoke more of instinct than conscious thought, he did the only thing to possible reach the enemy, throwing something. And since he had no time to pick out something from the Inventory, he threw the one thing already in his hand: The Keyblade.

Which went actually better than he expected. You'd think such a cumbersome weapon would make a pretty bad projectile. But as he threw it, it circled throw the air like a throwing axe, which the Keyblades admittedly kinda _remotely_ resembled – if you ignored the fact that the teeth were on the wrong side.

Nonetheless, the Keyblade cut through the air directly towards the Sun Shower Bride and right through it, dealing something between 50 and 100 damage. But more importantly, it redirected its attention away from Saku and back to him. Just like he wanted, even if he did have to throw away his weapon for that… wait.

Ji-Han stretched out his hand and in a burst of digital numbers, the Binary Spirit reappeared in it. Ji-Han smiled.

"Worship me heathen!" He called out. "I have a ranged attack with unlimited ammo!"

Then he threw his Keyblade again while laughing madly – only for the weapon to come up short, going through the ground in front instead of the target. Stopping laughing at the same time the muscle enhancements wore off, he threw the Keyblade again, this time too much to the left.

Ji-Han cursed. Now if he could just hit the enemy consistently…

He threw again, this time actually being on target – only for the Heartless to move all its tails to the front, blocking the attack. It still got some damage, but only a bit more than twenty.

Still, as long as it was just blocking, it wasn't attacking. As since he generally only needed to hold out until Naofumi and Shua showed up… yeah, he had no trouble stalling by doing scratch damage.

Unfortunately, the Heartless was of a different opinion. As he threw the Keyblade once more, the Kumiho literally duplicated, making the weapon pass harmlessly in between the two. That not enough, each of them duplicated again and again, until he was surrounded in a circle of nine Sun Shower Brides, only that each of them had one tail instead of the usual nine.

Worse, since they were all non-people, he could not instantly tell which one was which. Especially since during the whole movement, his Observe-Window had closed, meaning the Heartless had escaped his field of vision and he had to reapply it.

"[Observe]!"

He could barely make out the fact that each of the four in front of him were just {Sun Shower Bride Doppelganger}s, before they vanished and he got hit in the back and thrown forwards.

{-50} {-51} {-51} {-52} {-51}

Even before he landed, he turned around to witness a five-tailed Kumiho behind the place he had been before, the tails striking forward. Then the tails retreated and out of its back grew four more tails, bringing the number back up to nine.

'Note to self,' mused Ji-Han as he hit the ground, 'don't just stand there like an idiot if it's got you surrounded.'

"Are you alright?" Saku asked him as she hurried over to him.

Ji-Han shook his head.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He responded. "I've got a body that only shows damage when it's enough to kill me. You don't and you just got hit by the same lightning!"

"Oh, this? This is nothing!" She declared. "I won't let such simple wounds stop me from completing my duty!"

"Tch." He had no time to try and convince her as the Sun Shower Bride shot out nine fireballs again.

"[Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration]!" So instead he held out his left hand to the side and used the two seconds until the fireballs reached them, to try and restore at last a bit of her HP. Thanks to his [Athletic Body]-Perk this was around 25 HP per second with one hand… which meant, he got healed, too, as the hand holding his Binary Spirit was technically pointing towards "himself".

Nevertheless, he deactivated the healing skill when the flames reached them and instead began cutting them down with Saku's help. And together, able to watch each other's backs, they easily made short work of them without getting hit once. All the while Ji-Han taught her about the voice chat, in case the Sun Shower Bride made everyone look like it again.

Unfortunately, instead of using something that Ji-Han was prepared to deal with, it did the one that was the most difficult, forcing Ji-Han and Saku to stand back-to-back as they were surrounded by a circle of nine one-tailed Kumihos.

"Don't let any of them out of sight", Ji-Han told her. "And try to see if one of them is different from the others... like how the rain falls through them or something like that…"

{+487 EXP}

What?! How?! Oh, were Shua and Naofumi fighting against Heartless, too? Did that mean, it would take longer for them to arrive? Dang it!

That not enough, he realized that the notification had taken his attention and in the process redirected his field of view, so he quickly activated [Guard] to stop the Sun Shower Bride's attack. Only that none of the ones in front of him did any attacking. Instead they all vanished in an instant. Which meant…

{-51}

Ji-Han was sent sprawling away from Saku right as he was turning around. The woman herself did fare as bad as he did, no, even worse, as she got hit by two tails of the three-tailed Kumiho that was now standing between them instead of the single one that got him.

{+511 EXP}

Ji-Han ignored the message and any following as he sprinted towards the Sun Shower Bride. By the time he had reached it, it had already regrown all its tails. Which meant, it could use all of its skills again. Like the blocking.

"[Guard Break]!" Ji-Han activated as he struck at the Heartless, even though it did not actually brought its tails forward to block his attack. Instead, it raised them straight into the air and then Ji-Han was the one [Guard]ing, his Binary Spirit held above his head to block the lightning strikes. Which the Kumiho then used to strike at him with its tails, throwing him back once again. But outside of special moves, they lacked the power to damage his HP. Which meant, he did not lose any time recovering and throwing his Keyblade at the foe.

Not wanting to get hit a second time, the Sun Shower Bride split into the circle of nine again. But this time, Ji-Han would not just stand around and wait for it to attack. Instead, he would go and Observe all of them at the same time!

"[Astral Projection]!"

Ji-Han's spirit left his body, raising into the air, until it was high enough to look at all the copies at the same time.

Only that one of them was looking back.

Ji-Han completely froze. During the use of Astral Projection, his spirit had been invisible to both Shua and Naofumi, yet the Sun Shower Bride, who had not moved at all during these doppelganger attacks, at last where he could see it, was suddenly looking up. And then all the other ones vanished and it fanned out the nine reappearing tails to created nine spheres of fire. Which it then send out, not towards his body on the ground, but towards his spiritual self in the air.

Ji-Han instantly dropped Astral Projection and closed his eyes to reduce the disorientation of suddenly being somewhere else, even as he was already moving towards where he remembered the Heartless being. Then he opened his eyes and brought his Keyblade down onto them with all he had.

"[Power Strike]!"

The impact was more than satisfying, but when he went for the return-swing, the Kumiho literally jumped away, moving further than it had done at any time in the battle before. Then it created another nine fireballs, only to have six of them circle around in front of it, while the three other went towards him.

That was new… "[Observe]!"

Ji-Han did not even stop to think as soon as he saw that it had only 64 HP left and threw the Binary Spirit at it. Unfortunately, it jumped away again. Which brought it closer to Saku, who was trying to cut it with her katana. Wait.

"Don't kill it!" Ji-Han quickly shouted both out loud and through the voice chat, making the officer flinch and allowing the Heartless to strike at her and send her flying back. Ji-Han winced.

"Sorry", he apologized. "But only my Keyblade can defeat Heartless permanently. It's low on health right now and if you do the finishing blow, it will just come back later!"

"Didn't you say the same thing about hurting them?" Saku asked disgruntled as she picked herself up while Ji-Han threw his Keyblade but the Sun Shower Bride jumped out of the way once again.

"That's different", he responded. "I've seen other things able to hurt Heartless, I just didn't think your sword would be able to. But permanently killing a Heartless can only be done by the Keyblade, not even if I used a different weapon. Now, if I could only hit this thing…"

"Then I shall act as bait!" Saku declared and ran forward before Ji-Han could stop her.

He cursed. Why did she had to be so headstrong?! True, with how on guard the Heartless suddenly was, a distraction would not be bad, but why did she have to risk herself when she had so few HP?!

However, instead of focusing on Saku and letting itself open for an attack from him, the Kumiho split into nine again and surrounded them in a circle much larger than the previous ones.

Its last mistake.

"[Obsidian Magic: Obsidian Skin]!" He activated, followed by [Observe], six of the copies in his field of vision. He then spun around and used [Guard] to block the three tails striking at him, knowing them away and leaving the main body of the Heartless a vulnerable target.

"[Guard Break]!" He shouted as he stabbed forward, his Binary Spirit glowing as it sank into the body of the Heartless. Checkmate.

If completely froze in its tracks, the tails staying at the angle they currently were. The rain suddenly stopped and then one by one the tails dispersed into black dust. Then out of the back of the Heartless, opposite the place Ji-Han had stabbed, escaped a crystal into the shape of a Heart, before vanishing into the ether, followed by the whole body of the Sun Shower Bride. In its stead appeared a pile of stuff at the same place, ready for picking up.

{+84 500 EXP}

PING!

{Your level went up by 1.}

PING!

{You have completed the quest  
[Wedding Crasher: The Jealous Bride].  
Completion Award: +10 000 EXP  
Increased reputation with the gods and Urara of Labyrinth Town.  
Increased reputation with Chiya and her friends.

Bonus Award for  
[Defeat the [Sun Shower Bride] with the Keyblade.]:  
+6 000 EXP.  
The enemy will not return in a year.

Bonus Award for  
[Make sure no one gets killed by the [Sun Shower Bride].]:  
+8 000 EXP.  
Increased reputation with people of Urara of Labyrinth Town.}

Alright! If he needed any more confirmation that the Sun Shower Bride was finished, this was it. Which was just as well since at the end things have gotten quite quick. In fact, he did not even learned how to actually find the real Kumiho in a circle of illusion, before he finished it off.

"Hey Ji-Han", interrupted Naofumi his musings through their voice chat. "Did you deal with the boss monsters?"

"Yeah I did", he responded as he deactivated the Obsidian Magic. "How's it on your side?"

But whatever the Hero of the Shield answered went unheard, as Saku distracted him by shaking his shoulders, demanding to know what that in front of her was. As it turned out, she had leveled up, too and he was now busy explaining her how that feature worked.

And then he used the opportunity to change his Keyblade to the [Hippocratic Battlefield] and restore as much of her HP with [Wind Magic: Breeze of Regeneration] as he could. The battle might been over, but he did not want to leave her with only 703 HP out of 1160 in case something else decided to jump her afterwards. In fact, he managed to restore all of her HP and still had some MP over, but instead of using it on him at once, he wanted to see whether or not Shua would need something when he showed up with Naofumi.

Instead he decided to look at the drop items the Sun Shower Bride had left. Which were 300 000 Munny, whooping 2 Recovery Potions _and_ an Ether Potion, as well as a skill book and… a kimono looking like the one the Kumiho had been wearing.

{[Kitsune Wedding Dress - Rank: Gold]  
Type: Torso Armor  
Base-Value: 2 250 000 Munny  
The wedding dress of a Kitsune.  
As a magical garment it changes its size to fit the wearer.  
Protects from any kind of weather effects.  
Decreases the cost of any Demon-elemental ability by 10%.  
If the wearer happens to have their wedding day:  
Decreases the cost of any Demon-elemental ability by further 80%.  
Increases all stats of the wearer by their base-amount.  
Base Defense: 1}

Okay. So apparently his Gamer decided to go with the Bride-theme and give him a wedding dress which was pretty useful on its own, but especially useful during the wedding day of the person wearing it. Which made the additional effects pretty close to useless since then the person would have to fight on their wedding day.

…Maybe he could lend it to someone he saw in another world on their wedding day? If he visited enough weddings, it would be just a matter of probability until someone attacked the bride…

Moving on, the skill book.

PING!

{You have obtained the skill book  
[Kitsunebi].}

{Would you like to learn this skill?}  
{YES} {NO}

Ji-Han pressed {YES} and the book dispersed into many notes of light.

{[Kitsunebi (active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0%]  
Cost: 25 MP  
Create spheres of ghostly fire to illuminate the surroundings.  
Can summon up to 5 stationary spheres in a distance of 2m.  
Base-Damage: 20}

Ji-Han stared dumbfounded at the explanation. Stationary spheres? The Sun Shower Bride had been able to send them flying, hadn't it? Then again, the way it specified the stationary-part, it probably meant, he would unlock the flying ones later. And even the stationary ones had Base-Damage, so he might get enemies to run into them… not to mention that it was his first real magic skill! He couldn't wait to try it out!

"Kitsunebi!" He shouted.

But nothing happened.

Then he realized that since he got the skill from the Kumiho, which was in this world called a Kitsune, the skill would most likely be pronounced "Kitsune-bi" instead of the "Kitsu-nebi" he had tried out.

"[Kitsunebi]!"

This time it worked and five flames of a ghostly blue color appeared in front of him in a circle.

"You have a lot of unusual abilities", mused Saku as she observed him. "I am starting to wonder if you are actually a human at all..." Her face was suddenly filled with panic as if she was downright scared she had offended him.

"Not, not that it's anything of my business if you weren't", she quickly amended. Ji-Han just waved her off.

"I definitively used to be a human, but after getting The Gamer, my body changed in a lot of ways that makes it a bit ambiguous whether or not I still count as one", he explained. "And then there's the whole fact even if I am a human, I am from a different world, so there might still be some other differences compared to the humans here."

"A different world?" Repeated Saku and Ji-Han nodded.

"My job is to travel from world to world and deal with the Heartless, since I am the only one who can do so permanently."

"That means you are finished now, right?" Inquired Saku. "You don't need to stay in Labyrinth Town during the Wedding Kimono Festival anymore. Or am I wrong?"

"Actually killing the Heartless is more of a secondary objective so that the locals won't have to deal with them over and over again. The real mission is to find the keyhole and close it, so that the Heartless can't get use it to get to the Heart of the World, which would result in complete destruction of the world in question."

"And that is why you hope to ask the Urara for the location of the keyhole", Saku reasoned. "Very well, you have a point. I won't arrest you for entering Labyrinth Town illegally. But I will always accompany you to make sure you do not do anything indecent, understood?"

"I don't mind", Ji-Han replied. "Running around all the time had been getting annoying. Maybe now we can actually make it to the tower."

"The tower of the first district?" Wondered Saku. "Do you think only the legendary first-rank Urara is able to divine where the keyhole is?"

"Actually, I can guess where it is", admitted Ji-Han. "The keyhole moves to the place that the world considers most important at the moment. In the Digital World that was the top of the mountain on File Island, in the Kingdom of Belzerg that was above the front entrance of the guild building in the town Axel, in Cantehill that was the place where they summoned heroes and in my home world that was in the bedroom of yours truly."

"I find that hard to believe", interjected Saku deadpan at the last part and Ji-Han chuckled.

"Keyblade, remember?" He pointed out. "As the only thing able to permanently kill Heartless and lock keyholes, it's pretty important. Of course I only found out about it after the Seeker of Truth had already forcefully opened the keyhole and gave the Heartless the way in…

Which means that while I can guess that the keyhole is in the center of Labyrinth Town, won't be closing it, until the world itself reveals it. But since I'll have to move there regardless afterwards, I might as well go now and just defeat as many Heartless as possible on the way there…"

Suddenly, the Hippocratic Battlefield appeared in his hand with a flash of digital numbers. Ji-Han wasn't even too surprised and more exasperated wondering, what it was going to do _this_ time.

Which, as it turned out, was dragging his arm so that it was pointing towards the first district and specifically, the red tower. There the trails of fog that had been circling around it calmly, were now moving faster and more focused. They moved to the front of the building, as in the part he could see, and even moved upwards and downwards until they've build the outlines of a gigantic keyhole.

"Is that-", began Saku and Ji-Han nodded.

"Yeah", he confirmed. "That's the keyhole. Looks like I won't have to one big mission in every district, after all. [Heart Key: Close]!"

Ji-Han send the beam of light towards the keyhole, filling it completely with light. The locking sound could be heard and the light vanished, making the wisps of fog disperse into their previous state, circling around the red tower.

{You have completed the quest  
[The World's Heart: 123-21-2311-bul-qgsgp].  
Completion Award: +35 000 EXP to you and every party member not from that world.  
The world is not devoured by darkness.  
Increased reputation with all allies you meet on the world and their comrades.  
Increased reputation with everyone connected to Traverse Town.}

PING!

{Gratitude from a world has created the keychain [Binary Spirit].}

{[Bride of Gods]  
Element: Ancient  
Damage: +3  
Range: Long  
+10% EXP-gains to divining-based abilities.}

"I guess that mean, you've closed the keyhole?" Naofumi asked… in person?

Ji-Han turned around and saw his two party members, having finally arrived. Saku noticed them, too and drew her sword, so Ji-Han quickly tried to placate her.

"Wait, wait!" He told her. "Those guys are with me! I called them to help with the Sun Shower Bride but they got held up by other Heartless."

"…I remember", Saku finally said as she put the sword away. "If they are your comrades, I will treat them the same as you for now. That said, you did just now close the keyhole, didn't you? There is no reason to stay in Labyrinth Town anymore, is there?"

Ji-Han thought about it.

"I still don't know what item drops I can get from I can get from an Awake Umbrella…" Saku narrowed her eyes. "…but I can come back for that later. We've done everything important for now."

"Alright", decided Saku. "Then let me escort you back to the town's gate."

"Actually, that won't be necessary", interjected Ji-Han. "As I told you, we are from a different world. Which means we can leave this one at any place we want to. Gather around everyone!"

His companions did so silently, one because he could not speak and the other because he saw no reason to say something to delay their departure. Shua grabbed his left sleeve while Naofumi just grabbed his right shoulder.

"Goodbye, Saku-Ssi!" Ji-Han told the officer. "[Beam me up!]"

* * *

A/N:

And that's wrapping up this world. I didn't actually plan on having Ji-Han have to do a quest in every district – even if it would be a really game-like thing to do. After all, I have no idea what the other districts are like, so making up stuff for every district would be difficult on my own and would hardly bring any more substance to the story. I could have done it off-screen but since he already defeated one boss monster, I judged that enough for the world to accept his help.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


End file.
